ABB has been selected as a technology partner for an EU project exploring the use of remote inspection and maintenance techniques for offshore wind farms.

ABB’s optimisation software, Octopus, will be used in the Atlantis research project to help advance remote maintenance of offshore wind farms to reduce costs, increase efficiency and safety, and improve sustainability.

The Octopus software has been developed to allow onshore operators to plan a vessel mission from port to wind farm in the most optimal way, backed by data-driven decisions.
This will enable improved efficiencies by cutting the transfer times between land and wind farms, as well as by reducing the vessel waiting time and working time on-site, ABB said.

Atlantis project coordinator Andry Maykol Pinto said: “Atlantis is a unique project that promises to unlock new potential in the operation of offshore wind farms – the fastest-growing segment of the offshore industry.

“Research projects like Atlantis are crucial to this industry’s ongoing development, and solutions like Octopus allow stakeholders to leverage the benefits on an increasingly electric, digital and connected marine environment.

“Together, we will help the offshore wind market to cut costs while enhancing efficiency, sustainability and safety in inspection and maintenance operations.”

In addition to planning missions from port to wind farm, the new module of Octopus will be taking into consideration the operational limitations of the ship and personnel, as well as assess deployment opportunities for remotely operated underwater vehicles, unmanned surface vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Atlantis is being staged at two monitoring testbeds in the Atlantic Ocean, one off the coast of Viana do Castelo, Portugal, and the other further out to sea.

By better understanding how vessels and robots behave, researchers will identify opportunities to improve inspection and maintenance procedures.