The Network’s report, Building a Collaborative Data Strategy for the U.S. Offshore Wind Industry highlights the need for and benefits of developing a strategic, industry-wide approach to collecting and using data in the offshore wind sector. Authored by the Network’s Data & Digitalization Working Group (DDWG), the report outlines the positive impact a collaborative approach would have on offshore wind development in the U.S., making the case for widespread data sharing to increase efficiency industry-wide.
The U.S. industry has ramped up construction, recently celebrating steel in the water on the first two commercial-scale projects, and now sits at a crucial tipping point. It has become increasingly important for industry stakeholders to consider offshore wind as a collective, critical energy infrastructure system that requires collaboration on data collection strategies that allow the industry to work together to improve maintenance procedures, turbine efficiency, and cost projections.
The Report’s key findings include:
- The high value of data to developers means that some current data collection work is done privately, making data less accessible to industry stakeholders.
- The industry needs to approach a strategy for environmental data collection, storage, and sharing on a larger, more comprehensive scale to support industry-wide learning, overcome obstacles, and make the permitting process more efficient.
- Standardization in data collection is key to ensuring that all stakeholders are able to make full use of lessons learned.
