TGS, a provider of energy data and intelligence, has begun an offshore wind and metocean measurement project in Morro Bay, off the U.S. West Coast.
The campaign seeks to 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 U.S. and will add to its library of wind and metocean data collected on the East Coast and in Norway and Germany.
The data gathered will offer insights throughout the floating wind farm development lifecycle, including 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, operational expenditures, 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’ site evaluation and wind data analytics platform. Wind AXIOM enables 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.
“We are excited to bring our solutions to California, where floating wind technology is gaining momentum,” says Kristian Johansen, CEO of TGS. “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.”
