HR Wallingford joins floating wind turbine offshore storage partnership

By Sam Pither

16 September 2022

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Engineering and environmental hydraulics company HR Wallingford, based at Howbery Business Park in Oxford, has entered into a partnership to identify offshore storage areas for floating wind turbines awaiting installation in the Celtic Sea.

Led by offshore wind development specialists Offshore Solutions Group, the TS-Flow© JIP is looking to free up space on quaysides and inner harbours for assembling turbines, keeping supply chains moving.

With the UK government targeting 5GW of energy generation from floating wind by 2030, five Celtic Sea locations have been allocated for turbine developments.

The stress this will place on the area’s infrastructure means ports will need to be working efficiently to cover delivery for the construction, assembly, and installation of new wind farms. The storage of these turbines is a crucial component of this.

Will Rowley, group CEO at Offshore Solutions Group noted: “This joint industry partnership is recognition of the need for advanced planning and technical solutions by the floating wind industry to support large-scale local delivery of floating wind solutions.

“We welcome the support of the developers and partners involved and the positive recognition of this initiative received from regulators and the UK government.”

Bringing together developers, port authorities, installers and other parties working in the Celtic Sea for the first time, the first phase of the initiative will be a technical assessment.

It will identify potential locations, an outline of the required permitting framework, technical constraints, and practical considerations. Subsequent phases will explore how to transform potential sites into usable locations.

Mike Case, business development manager for clean energy at HR Wallingford, said: “Keeping operations moving is a critical issue for the floating wind industry, and the team at HR Wallingford is excited to apply our site selection expertise to the challenge.”

By Sam Pither

Sam is the Regional Editor of Biz News, responsible for both Hampshire and Dorset.

A new recruit to journalism, Sam started writing for the Business Magazine as a freelancer in May of 2022 after completing his degree in English at University College London. His passion for local businesses and ability to tell a story soon caught the attention of the publication’s management team and have led to his meteoric rise.

Sam, who lives in central Reading, takes a particular interest in technology, gaming and food and drink, having been a chef before starting his degree.