Geoscience and Offshore Wind JIP

Ambitions to grow offshore wind require tremendous steps forward in engineering capabilities, alongside close integration with geoscience understanding, to increase the scale of deployment. Geosciences, and geoscientists, are integral to the whole lifecycle management of offshore windfarms, from initial site evaluation, foundation and layout design, through installation, and operations and maintenance, to lifetime extension, repowering and decommissioning strategies. 

Geoscience has a crucial role in ensuring the sustainable growth of offshore wind energy. All developments, from monopoles and cable routes to anchor points for floating wind, require a detailed understanding of substrate conditions. 

The Geoscience and Offshore Wind Joint Industry Programme (JIP) is training a new generation of PhD students in the use of offshore datasets, the integration of geophysical and geotechnical data, to advance the development of ground models that capture geological information to meet the challenges of the Energy Transition. 

This programme is a joint investment between the University of Leeds Geosolutions Research Centre and industry leaders in offshore wind, led by Professor David Hodgson and Professor Natasha Barlow. 

We are open to other parties with a significant interest in offshore wind and geosciences joining the JIP. For further details, please see the proposal or get in touch with the Geosolutions Research Centre. 

We are currently welcoming applications for a PhD at the University of Leeds on ‘Advanced 3D ground modelling workflows to support the sustainable development of offshore windfarms’ supervised by Prof David Hodgson, Prof Natasha Barlow and Dr Mark Thomas. Application details to follow.