TGS Announces New Wind and Metocean Measurement Campaign Offshore California
TGS California LiDAR Deployment Image Map - June 2024
OSLO, Norway (26 June 2024) – TGS, a global provider of energy data and intelligence, has announced a new campaign for offshore wind and metocean measurement located in Morro Bay, off the U.S. West Coast. This initiative further expands the company’s pioneering multi-client wind and metocean measurement initiatives in key global offshore wind regions.
The campaign seeks to greatly enhance the industry’s understanding of offshore conditions across three wind energy lease areas in Morro Bay by calibrating TGS proprietary wind models with observational data.
This three-year deployment in an area with an average depth of 1,000 meters will be the first by TGS on the West Coast of the United States and will add to its comprehensive library of wind and metocean data collected on the East Coast US, Norway and Germany. The data gathered will offer crucial insights throughout the floating wind farm development lifecycle. This includes environmental impact assessments and technical decisions such as turbine selection, layout optimization, foundation design, and operations and maintenance planning. Additionally, it will enable more accurate modeling of capital expenditures (CAPEX), operational expenditures (OPEX), potential energy production, and grid requirements. High-quality ocean current measurements and tidal information collected over this period will be valuable for grid connection planning, while accurate atmospheric turbulence intensity observations will provide key inputs for wind farm energy yield.
Supplied by EOLOS, the buoy is equipped with advanced sensors designed to capture detailed measurements of wind, metocean, and environmental data. Key metrics include wind speed and direction at turbine hub height, wave heights, ocean current data across the full water column, and monitoring of birds, bats and fish. Data will be continuously streamed, quality-controlled, and made available daily to customers via Wind AXIOM, TGS' state-of-the-art site evaluation and wind data analytics platform. Wind AXIOM enables wind developers and stakeholders to improve the quality and speed of their decision-making processes by identifying the most critical factors affecting the viability of offshore wind projects.
As with all wind and metocean campaigns conducted by TGS, the multi-client approach will allow multiple customers to subscribe to the same floating LiDAR data, thus reducing development costs and timelines. Similar initiatives have already been successfully deployed on the East Coast of the United States, in Germany, and offshore Norway, where fleet-wide LiDAR data availability averages 94% across all TGS deployments at a 140-meter measurement height.
Kristian Johansen, CEO of TGS, commented, "TGS remains committed to supporting the growth of the global offshore wind industry. We are excited to bring our solutions to California, where floating wind technology is gaining momentum. With our multi-client floating LiDAR campaign, we make high-quality wind and metocean data more accessible, enhancing investment and planning decisions and contributing to the success of U.S. offshore wind development. This ninth LiDAR deployment within the last two years demonstrates our commitment and the multi-client model's continued value to the offshore wind industry. It provides superior data earlier to developers worldwide, helping them reduce risk throughout the project lifecycle."
This deployment is supported by funding from the offshore wind industry and is expected to be launched in Q3 2024.
About TGS
TGS provides scientific data and intelligence to companies active in the energy sector. In addition to a global, extensive and diverse energy data library, TGS offers specialized services such as advanced processing and analytics alongside cloud-based data applications and solutions.
Forward-Looking Statement
All statements in this press release other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, which are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict and are based upon assumptions as to future events that may not prove accurate. These factors include volatile market conditions, investment opportunities in new and existing markets, demand for licensing of data within the energy industry, operational challenges, and reliance on a cyclical industry and principal customers. Actual results may differ materially from those expected or projected in the forward-looking statements. TGS undertakes no responsibility or obligation to update or alter forward-looking statements for any reason.
For more information, visit TGS.com or contact:
Sven Børre Larsen
Chief Financial Officer
[email protected]
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