Convening power: accelerating the

energy transition

Wind power: a constantly replenished energy source that is playing a central role in the drive towards net zero. While wind energy currently contributes about 8% of total global electricity supply, that figure could reach 30% by 2050. Offshore wind, which benefits from higher and more consistent average wind speeds than onshore wind, will make an important contribution to this growth – but to achieve this, ten times as much offshore wind capacity needs to be built over the next 25 years as was completed in the past 25.

Arup is committed to driving this growth, working with governments, regulators, offshore wind farm developers, ports and electricity transmission companies – and with investors and financiers, to enable the hundreds of billions of dollars of investment needed over the coming years to meet the challenging net zero goals. We have worked on more than 20GW of offshore wind projects in development and operation in Europe, and more than 10GW in East Asia and Australasia – enough to power up to 30 million homes.

Drawing on our technical, engineering, sustainability and economic advisory expertise, we work with the public and private sectors alike to find innovative and effective ways to increase the speed of development of offshore wind farms, make them more efficient and profitable, and extend their lifespan. Our work across the entire value chain is helping to accelerate the deployment of offshore wind around the world, safely and at scale, to drive the transition to renewable energy. By bringing together the key players across the industry, we have been helping to reduce risk and make an impactful contribution advancing the energy transition at scale.

Catalysing investment 

Arup is at the centre of efforts to drive the global offshore wind industry, advising governments and international bodies.  

In 2022, Arup was the technical advisor to Crown Estate Scotland on the ScotWind Seabed Leasing process, reviewing bids from more than 70 companies for the development rights of 30GW of offshore wind in Scottish waters. As a result of this process, 19 projects will be developed over the next decade, giving a substantial boost to the UK’s portfolio of floating offshore wind projects under development. 

More recently, we supported the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council in developing their Strategic Investor Model. This initiative is designed to convene the supply chain (including ports, manufacturing, construction and operations) to think about the investments needed to build an industry to deliver ScotWind, and to consolidate and develop projects at a scale that can attract strategic investment. 

In 2021, we authored the World Bank report Key Factors in the Development of Offshore Wind in Emerging Markets. Targeted primarily at government officials and stakeholders, the report contains detailed analysis of the four pillars of successful development of offshore wind projects – strategy, policy, frameworks and delivery – to help emerging markets build successful offshore wind sectors. 

One country where the offshore wind industry is in its formative stages is Australia. The government has identified development zones and 12 licences have been granted for wind farms off the coast of Victoria. To help guide this development, Arup was commissioned to prepare the Australian Offshore Wind Market Study, which evaluates the country’s current capabilities and identifies gaps in its supply chain. It recommends strategic investments and targeted actions which, if implemented, should help Australia to realise the full potential of its offshore wind resources. 

Driving efficient transmission 

The energy market is evolving rapidly and needs to reinvent how it delivers major infrastructure, because the scale of projects being delivered or planned over the next decade are an order of magnitude greater than what has come before. While there are currently around 74GW of wind farms in operation and a further 27GW under construction, the pipeline of projects in development is significantly larger.  

The public sector will play an increasingly important role in ensuring that the consumer is getting value for money. One of Arup’s key areas of focus in this regard is the transmission technology that carries the energy generated by wind farms to the power stations that distribute it. We advised UK regulator Ofgem on the development of the OFTO (Offshore Transmission Owner) regime in the late 2000s – part of a strategic government plan to lower the financing costs of offshore wind by reducing the costs for owning and operating transmission systems. 

Since 2010, Arup has advised bidding consortia in all 12 procurement rounds where Ofgem has run competitions to procure transmission owner/operators. We have also taken seven assets through to financial close – most recently Seagreen OFTO, the world’s deepest offshore wind farm. 

Wind farms designed to last 

Arup’s design and engineering expertise is also helping to deliver offshore wind projects by contributing to the FEED (front-end engineering design) of new installations.  

We recently completed mini-FEED design of monopile foundations for an extension to an existing offshore wind farm off the UK coast. The Arup team used cutting-edge optimisation techniques in conjunction with our foundation design tool, OPTIF, to assess the complex design space and identify robust, cost-competitive design solutions. 

 Across the North Sea, we combined our global specialised expertise and local knowledge to review the design of the Thor wind farm’s onshore and offshore substations, ensuring they were aligned with safety standards and best practice. Sited off the west coast of Denmark, Thor will be the largest offshore wind farm in the country when fully operational in 2027. 

We also advised on the future-proofing of the substation designs to enable possible new – and more sustainable – solutions to be implemented over Thor’s lifetime. Our work has helped to ensure that Thor will make a significant and sustainable contribution to Denmark’s growing energy demands. 

Keeping the turbines turning for longer 

Like any kind of mechanical installation, wind farms have a limited lifespan – typically a 25 year design life. The UK was one of the first countries to build offshore wind farms, and an estimated 3.5GW of its offshore wind capacity will reach the end of its natural life in 2035, entailing significant decommissioning costs and threatening energy security. 

As a result, there is pressure to optimise offshore wind assets to extend their life. In light of this, Arup has developed LEAP (Life Extension and Asset Management Platform), a purpose-built structural health monitoring and analysis software that enables accurate calculation of fatigue life – the amount of time it will take for a component to fail. 

To date, Arup has delivered ‘remaining useful life’ assessments on 16 projects and run LEAP on seven offshore wind farms, with structural monitoring data covering over 200,000 hours of turbine operation. Analysis of this data has enabled Arup to demonstrate ways to extend the life of foundations and wind turbine generator components. By helping to prolong the life of existing wind farms, in parallel with the development of new facilities, we are contributing to the expansion of the UK’s capacity to generate sustainable energy from offshore wind. 

Driving progress towards net zero 

These are just a few examples of the many different types of projects we are working on across the full life cycle of offshore wind farm development. Over the past five years, we have been involved in more than 100 offshore wind projects across 17 countries. 

We have taken a leading role in convening a wide range of stakeholders across the public and private sectors. By facilitating collaboration across the supply chain, we are helping to accelerate the pace of development, and ultimately to speed up the transition to renewable energy. 

As governments and energy companies worldwide plan and develop new offshore wind farms, we help them turn their renewable energy ambitions into reality. Working across the value chain to help fund, finance, design, deliver, operate and extend the life of assets, Arup will continue to power this essential industry for many years to come.