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3 Comms Considerations for Offshore Wind Farms

11/10/2023
Eemits Requalifies for SafeContractor Accreditation
Connecting an offshore wind farm with reliable communication is vital for its success. With so many moving parts of a wide area, it’s important that safety, productivity, and efficiency is prioritised throughout the project’s life cycle. 

This blog explores how project leaders can connect wind farms, vessels, and other moving parts together to create a successful offshore wind farm. 

Offshore wind turbine requirements


It feels important to mention this part first, above all else. This is because a lot of operators opt for Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) systems over Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) systems without realising it’s costing them more money, time and infrastructure to do this. 
TETRA struggles to penetrate wind farms, so communication offshore is only possible if a range of infrastructure is installed.

Whereas with DMR, far less infrastructure is required to achieve reliable coverage. 

In simple mathematic terms, it takes approximately seven TETRA sites to achieve the same coverage as two DMR sites. 

Via DMR, we’re able to deploy our rapid deployment TRBOCALL system with minimal infrastructure – meaning the end user benefits from a speedy solution that’s cost-effective and gives them access to a wide range of voice and data capabilities. 

Onshore O&M base


The O&M phase of an offshore wind farm is crucial for both commercial and production success. Once wind turbines are firmly fixed into the ground (or floating above the seabed) then the O&M phase must take hold of the reins. 

And in respect of an offshore wind farm, it can be trickier ensuring everything is where it should be from an operational perspective. You have vessels coming and going, and the need for maintenance workers to carry out repairs directly on the wind turbines. 

To make sure everything runs smoothly during an important phase, the base must be equipped with ultra-reliable communication coverage. Both from an efficiency and safety perspective. 

Workers must be always kept safe, especially in harsh environments where the weather can change at the blink of an eye. 

From an efficiency perspective, communication must be consistently good so downtime from a power output perspective is as minimal as possible. 

This is why a robust system must be in place. One that can be rapidly deployed and cost effective for the project. It’s no secret that some wind farms have struggled in a cost/funding storm. 

Ship-to-shore communication


An offshore wind farm is a bit like a jigsaw puzzle, when completed it looks nice and straightforward. But putting it together to make it work involves different parts and pieces aligning.

Vessels will come and go to and from the O&M base, often to the wind turbines themselves. They require a robust marine VHF solution that can easily communicate with the base and other moving parts. 

That’s where we excel, as we’ve fitted many marine vessel solutions, creating a seamless communication system in the process.  

VHF marine radios are used to communicate with other boats and coastguards and can be a lifesaving tool. They can also be used for ship-to-shore communication when a vessel is carrying important equipment for a wind farm. 

They really help to improve the efficiency of offshore wind farms and the common types of vessels involved, include: 

CSOV – Construction Service Operation Vessel
Crucial for the successful implementation of wind turbines and other infrastructure

SOV – Service Operation Vessel
Crucial for ensuring wind turbines operate safely

ISV – Installation Support Vessel 
Crucial for ensuring the installation of wind turbines goes as smoothly as possible

And we are well equipped to provide communication support for all these types of vessels, and we’ve most recently been fitting installations on vessels that form part of Dogger Bank and Neart Na Gaoithe (NnG). 

Eemits – specialists in wind farm communications


We are proud to specialise in two-way communications solutions for both onshore and offshore wind farms. This has included working on a national basis – and now French basis – with EDF Renewables, one of the leading renewable energy providers across the globe. 
We’ve also worked on some major projects recently. This includes the NnG wind farm and Dogger Bank wind farm.
 
For NnG we have implemented solutions for O&M bases, substations, and vessels – including other requirements. For Dogger Bank, we’ve rapidly deployed comms for GE Renewables at their turbine construction base at Able Port, Seaton Carew.
 
And for the wider project, we’ve rapidly deployed a comms system at their O&M base, so they can seamlessly contact staff and vessels quickly and without interruption.
 
If you’re a wind farm energy provider and you want rapid deployment of a Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) solution, that’s more cost effective than Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA), then contact us today via our online contact form. 

Alternatively, you can call us on 0800 328 0100 between 8:30am and 5:15pm, Monday to Friday. 

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Whitby Seafoods

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Teesside Park

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Eemits is a professional, friendly and reliable company."

Lucite International

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Eemits is a great company."

Huntsman Pigments and Additives

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Hitachi Rail Europe

"We needed two-way radios for the guys on the test track and something that was scalable. The solution Eemits provided was far superior in comparison to other competitors offerings.

Everything is done in-house and the service and sales department is particularly good. As masters in their field they are extremely knowledgeable."

Go North East

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Good quality, good people, good team, all of who are positive about their company. They demonstrate real passion."

Chemoxy

"The quality of service that Eemits provides is excellent. The team is very knowledgeable and they offer high quality products. The TRBOCALL solution fitted meets our site requirements and upgrades our technology.

Lone worker function is particularly useful allowing us to monitor our staff ensuring they are safe at all times."

ATC Liverpool


"Eemits Communication is friendly, professional and competitive. They are excellent and their workmanship and knowledge is great.

Eemits attitude sets them apart - no problem is too big"

North Tees Hospital


"Prior to the installation of our current system onsite communications were poor. Eemits Communications offered us guidance and advice on the different technologies available and delivered a highly effective system on time and within our budget. Its success has led to other departments using the system."

Hartlepool Power Station

"Eemits Communications Ltd have been involved in work at Hartlepool Power Station for over 10 years now. During this time they have installed an Aerial network through our buildings to enable more efficient internal radio communications.

I have found the staff highly professional at all times and willing to provide help whenever they can, I would have no hesitation in recommending this company."

Cummins Turbo Technologies

"Having previously worked with Eemits, we knew that we were dealing with a supplier that we could trust and one that could help us to significantly increase the safety of our lone workers with its unique solutions.

The equipment supplied by Eemits is excellent. We have been greatly impressed by the knowledge and skills of their engineers who have carried out the onsite surveys and installation of the system.

Eemits came up with an innovative approach to overcome challenges that we had with installing a system with the structure of our building, and as such, the quality of radio frequency is outstanding."

Falck Fire Services

"The service delivered by Eemits has been excellent and we have developed a very good working relationship over the years.

As a local business to Falck Fire Services they can respond to faults or general requests very quickly - which is very important in our line of work - whereas similar suppliers have a greater response time.

TRBOCALL is an overall platform that has made a massive improvement to our communications in comparison to the analogue system that we had been using for many years. It provides us with many different applications that can be utilised across the business.

Since introducing TRBOCALL we have seen significant improvements related to safety and in our communications itself, which is critical to our operations."