Digital twin to build UK continental shelf ‘Smart Energy Basin’

Scotland’s Net Zero Technology Centre’s (NZTC) ‘Smart Energy Basin’ is to be built with digital platform developer FutureOn’s ‘FieldTwin’ digital twin software.

The Smart Energy Basin, part of the Centre’s Data 4 Net Zero (D4NZ) project, is aimed to create a digital copy of the entire UK continental shelf energy basin as a resource for the energy sector to enable enhanced decision making and provide increased visibility and streamlined operations as the industry progresses towards net zero targets.

FutureOn intends to donate the licenses for its platform so those involved in the project can start to develop and combine data science, visualisation and modelling tools to create the Smart Energy Basin.

Specifically in collaboration with partners including the National Subsea Centre and Robert Gordon University, FutureOn intends to support two key work packages as part of the D4NZ project, viz the Future Energy Tool and the Marine Environment Industrial Planning Application.

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As part of the Marine Environment Industrial Planning Application project, the use of the FieldTwin should provide both a visualisation of energy transitions activities, such as offshore wind turbine placement, as well as allow users to design and model an entire subsea infrastructure and cabling associated with such offshore assets.

With the import and visualisation of multiple data sources, comprehensive impact assessments of the seabed with multi-user activity should be enabled – a key issue, with a recent report from the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation suggesting that more than half of Scottish fishing grounds could be lost by 2050 due to the development of offshore renewables.

“The D4NZ project is a critical step for the energy industry as we rapidly approach milestone net zero targets,” comments Adam Duffy, VP Energy Transition at FutureOn.

“We are proud to play a part in the process of developing a holistic view of the UK continental shelf basin which will transform the way operators and companies across the supply chain visualise subsea operations.”

The D4NZ project is one of seven projects being developed through NZTC’s Net Zero Technology Transition Programme to transform the North Sea energy system with support from the Scottish government’s Energy Transition Fund.

The Smart Energy Basin, based on the smart cities approach, is intended to be utilised to accelerate a range of cross-sectoral decision-making approaches for energy integration and the transition to a net zero energy system by 2045.

Initially it will focus on a discrete group of offshore energy assets that share both geographic proximity and operational connectivity, either a cluster of assets east of Shetland or in the southern North Sea, before seeking to widen the approach across the basin.

FutureOn also has just reported completion of the US GoEnergise startup programme, which,h working with companies such as Avangrid on real projects, has enabled it to mature and validate the FieldTwin solution for the offshore wind market.