The world's largest subsea exhibition and conference

The Subsea Expo is the largest subsea exhibition and conference in the world, and was held in Aberdeen this week. I attended the event yesterday (in-person) and had a great time walking around the exhibitor’s stalls. I also went along to one of the conferences within the event, named Subsea Technologies for Offshore Renewables.

There were a number of presenters at the conference from different organisations who discussed some interesting topics, primarily related to offshore wind. It is interesting that floating offshore wind farms are becoming more and more popular, and may soon overtake fixed offshore wind farms as the standard wind-farm type. For both fixed and floating wind farms, the design and installation of offshore wind farms brings some interesting challenges for engineers. 

Wind turbines need to be spaced far enough apart to allow the wake downstream from one turbine to return to free stream conditions before reaching the next turbine; however, this minimum spacing must be balanced with the need to fit as many turbines as possible in any one wind farm. Consequently, there tends to be a smaller mooring diameter available for floating wind farms than there would be for a typical offshore oil-and-gas platform, which has necessitated innovation. For example, some new developments in the field of moorings relate to the use of micro-piles, which (as the name suggests) are piles of a smaller size provided as an array and connected to a top plate, thereby avoiding the need to drill deep and wide in the seafloor and the risks associated therewith.

Further, some presenters commented on the need to improve upon the process of installing subsea cables. While subsea cables on average represent around 10% of the total capital of an offshore project, they amount to around 80% of all insurance claims – highlighting the frequency with which this complicated process goes wrong. To mitigate this risk, engineers are looking to advanced simulation methods to pre-empt faults occurring (which, I’m sure, the insurance companies are glad to hear!).

Intellectual property rights enables the proprietor to stop others using their idea without their permission. It is important that the companies investing in these innovate solutions seek to protect their ideas before it is too late and their idea becomes publicly known.  Patents are one form of intellectual property rights that can be used to protect both products and methods.

At Marks & Clerk, we have intellectual property experts that can advise clients on how to protect their ideas and maximise the returns from their innovations. Should you ever need our assistance please do get in touch.