First Published: Wind Energy Network, March 2023
During 2023 TGS expects to significantly expand its groundbreaking offshore wind measurement campaign to at least five locations off the US East Coast and additional deployments offshore European countries.
This initiative is driven by a mission to provide wind farm developers with bankable wind and metocean data when they really need it – as early in their planning process as possible. But why is our approach unique, and how does it result in a faster, cheaper, and better way to access wind and metocean data?
Business Model
The TGS business model, known as the ‘multi-client’ model in other industries, uses the pretext that many different parties will have an interest in the same or similar data. Instead of each individual party taking on the cost and operational risks themselves, one company commissions the acquisition of this data and licenses the data to multiple clients. TGS has been doing this for over 40 years with subsurface data, where it has become the norm in many parts of the world. So much so that TGS now holds the world’s most extensive library of modern subsurface data.
By bringing the multi-client model to Offshore Wind using floating LiDAR buoys that measure wind, metocean and environmental data, TGS can leverage over 40 years of experience in acquiring precision measurements on a huge scale, generating an unrivaled knowledge of storing, processing, and delivering vast amounts of data. Many customers can subscribe to the same floating LiDAR data with our multi-client buoys, offering offshore wind stakeholders the added benefits of reduced development costs, timelines, and a smaller environmental footprint. Most importantly, this approach allows developers to significantly reduce energy uncertainty.
Roll Out
We plan to roll out this multi-client model globally, supplying wind developers with the data they need when they need it. Where possible, this would be before wind lease rounds, when crucial decisions are made on investments and bid amounts, using calculations on potential energy returns.
Our first multi-client floating LiDAR buoy deployment was in the Hudson South region of the New York Bight in June 2022. The buoy ontinues
to perform very well with high data recovery rates with data available now. Early results from this buoy reveal unique aspects of the wind resource not previously captured by prior modeling studies or measurement campaigns. Such results demonstrate the importance of comprehensive measurement campaigns to assess wind resources and ocean conditions accurately. To this end, TGS plans to add a second floating LiDAR buoy in the Hudson South area to reduce further wind and ocean modeling uncertainties and cycle times for those embarking on-site assessment activities. In addition, these data will be used to further validate TGS’ expansive high-resolution numerical weather prediction (NWP) model data in the region.
Wind-Industry Specific
In the Central Atlantic, where further buoy deployments are planned, TGS-deployed floating LiDAR buoys will...
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