This article was first published in PES Wind, August 2023
With its multi-client approach, TGS provides quality data early and at a low cost,
reducing uncertainties and enhancing project development decisions. Matthew
Cramer, the company’s Offshore Wind Commercial Lead, New Energy Solutions,
explains how it is shifting the mindset of the industry and creating significant
efficiencies in the way measurements are performed.
PES: It’s great to speak with you and I’m looking forward to learning about offshore
wind measurements and the technical capabilities of TGS. For background, your company centers around data and intelligence, correct?
Matthew Cramer: That’s correct. For over 40 years, TGS has provided energy data and intelligence to companies and investors across energy markets. In addition to data acquisition, analytics platforms and market intelligence, we hold the world’s largest global library of subsurface data, such as seismic and well data.
Two years ago, we launched a new business unit, New Energy Solutions, with the specific
objective of offering data and software solutions for renewable energy and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). Since then, our offshore wind offerings have expanded rapidly through organic initiatives, acquisitions, and partnerships. We’ve introduced a range of novel data-driven solutions to the industry and our offshore wind customers now number over 500 globally.
PES: You recently announced the start of the world’s first multi-client offshore wind measurement campaign. Can you give me some more information about that?
MC: One of the main challenges for offshore wind is to reduce the cost and time it takes to develop projects. To address this, we’ve taken the multi-client model from oil and gas, where multiple customers can subscribe to the same subsurface data, and adapted it to offshore wind. We started conducting wind, metocean and environmental data campaigns with floating LiDAR buoys last year and now have six such campaigns ongoing, with more to come.
Our deployments use one of the world’s most advanced Stage 3 floating LiDAR systems, ensuring the highest level of accuracy. Data is continuously acquired and quality-controlled and customers have daily access to it through the Wind AXIOM platform, TGS’ unique site evaluation and wind data analytics tool. Along with wind speed measurements, the data package includes important metocean and environmental data such as significant wave heights, ocean current profiles, water salinity and temperature, and acoustic monitoring of whales, dolphins, birds and bats.
PES: You mention six floating LiDAR deployments. What areas are you concentrating on?
MC: Our aim is to provide wind and metocean data at a point in the project development cycle when it can have the biggest impact. The answer to this is as early as possible, so we are identifying those regions where offshore wind development could benefit most. These tend to be places where bidding for offshore wind leases is imminent, or where crucial decisions are being made ahead of investment.
In the central Atlantic, the two TGS buoy deployments will supply valuable wind, metocean, and environmental insight to those pursuing wind development opportunities allowing the de-risking of prospects well before the lease bidding process. These data campaigns will provide the only modern and complete dataset covering the central Atlantic lease areas, due to open for bidding in early 2024. This is the same for our deployment at Utsira Nord in Norway, where three areas have recently been nominated for wind development.
In New York Bight, our two data campaigns are assisting those embarking on site assessment activities following the successful lease round there, and in Massachusetts developers can acquire additional data to de-risk Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) or enhance Construction
and Operations Plans (COPs).
PES: What has the data availability been like during the campaign so far?
MC: Our first New York Bight data campaign was launched in June 2022 and has just passed a significant milestone for a full year of data collected. The campaign is entering the second year of data collection and has averaged 90% data availability for the full duration of the deployment. We expect data availability to meet or exceed this target for all other data campaigns. We are
pleased to be receiving superior quality wind measurements at 300 m turbine hub heights which provides very insightful and unique....
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