German multinational energy company RWE has signed a new contract that will enable the utility to centralise and optimise the management of its global portfolio of offshore wind energy projects.
Danish company Systematic will provide RWE with its information management software SITE to manage vessel, personnel information and existing operational data from all offshore projects.
The cloud-based software is expected to help RWE to optimise the workflow processes and ensure induction and safety measures are consistent for Operations & Maintenance teams and contractors. The utility will start deploying the tool at offshore wind projects in the UK first, followed by Germany, Denmark and Sweden, before being deployed worldwide. Humber Gateway and Rampion in the UK will be the first to install the new system
The project is part of the utility’s digital transformation and energy decarbonisation efforts.
RWE says it believes digitalisation has a key role to play in helping to accelerate the energy transition. Optimised management and maintenance of renewable energy projects will in turn help accelerate the decarbonisation of energy generation by enabling operators to expand their projects. Sven Utermohlen, the CEO of Wind Offshore Global at RWE Renewables, said: “By implementing this new software tool to manage our global offshore wind fleet, we are taking an important step towards harmonising our control systems and optimising the operational efficiency of our projects.”
RWE will invest €5 billion ($5.9 billion) net in renewable energy and grow its global renewables portfolio to more than 13GW of net capacity by 2022.
Claus Byskov, Systematic’s Senior Manager for Digital Transformation, adds: “RWE’s ambition to manage a large set of operational data with the software solution provided by Systematic fits well with our goal to move beyond traditional marine coordination. We aim to support our customers with innovative solutions for managing offshore wind operations and to deliver the data needed to increase operational efficiency across a global portfolio of offshore wind farms.”
