Page 59: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Nov/Dec 2022)

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DIGITALIZATION DIGITAL TWINS ©Akselos

Akselos’ Digital

Twin of a

WindFloat foater ?oating offshore wind platforms.

Digital twin technology can be the solution

The ?oating offshore wind industry can overcome these Today, Principle Power, with digital twin pioneer Ak- challenges and supercharge its growth by embracing digital selos, is building a structural digital twin of the WindFloat twins, virtual representations of physical, real-world objects. Atlantic offshore wind farm.

To create a digital twin of an asset, engineers ?rst build a This digital twin is being constructed as part of the Di- detailed model, re?ecting the “as-is” condition as much as giFloat Project - aiming to develop the world’s ?rst digital possible, and then pair it with real data, including inspec- twin software tailored to ?oating offshore wind applica- tion and sensor data. This data is then fed into the model tions. When completed, the solution will help Principle to create a structural digital twin. This twin can run near Power reduce the amount of maintenance required on the real-time simulations, analyze performance issues and sug- assets and provide valuable, actionable data to help further gest improvements that engineers can make to the original improve this growing industry. asset to increase energy output. The ?oating wind industry has enormous potential to

Since they are fed with near real-time data from the asset, scale the energy transition and drive us to net zero by 2050.

digital twins provide a clear picture of asset health which By embracing digital twin technology, the industry can operators can use to pinpoint issues proactively before they reduce the maintenance required on turbines and plat- become critical. As a result, operators can ?x problems be- forms, helping to improve operations, bring down costs fore they escalate into costly failures, reduce the number of and increase uptake. Moreover, the more systems that uti- expensive and time-consuming trips offshore, and schedule lize digital twin technology in the future, the more valu- work to minimize waiting on weather and lost production. able data will be available to guide designers in creating

Digital twin technology is being developed to optimize optimal designs. november/december 2022 OFFSHORE ENGINEER 59