News

Eemits Communications continues to deliver time-critical, and cost-effective solutions in the renewable energy sector – this time by creating onshore communication solutions for the prestigious Dogger Bank wind farm. 

Dogger Bank is a joint venture between SSE, Equinor, and Vargronn. It will become the world’s largest offshore wind farm when the three phrases are completed, and Equinor will operate the wind farm for an expected 35 years. 

Eemits has been working closely with Equinor to deliver the solutions we highlight in more detail below. 

The onshore challenges

Eemits were invited to provide a seamless digital two-way radio solution to connect their two remote onshore converter stations with their operations and maintenance base so that workers could carry out O&M tasks efficiently and safely. 

In addition, the O&M base needed a system to aid with the embarkation and disembarkation of personnel to and from the support offshore vessels (SOVs) as well as facilitating the warehouse, facilities and security teams’ day to day activities and safety around the base. 

Being able to communicate with operatives on the SOVs when dockside was vital to the smooth running of the windfarm so that spare parts could be effectively loaded and unloaded from the warehouse to the vessel. 

The system needed to handle multiople voice calls and crate multiple user groups so that radio users could communicate within their own group without interference as well as the ability to communicate with other groups and every radio user if the need arose. Private one-to-one calling features and the ability pre-defined texts and free form texts were also needed when messages are needed to be sent quickly.

Deployment of Dogger Bank solutions

Eemits deployed their cloud based digital Tier III two-way radio solution TRBOcallTM. This enables organisations to rapidly deploy an on-site digital two-way radio system that can be remotely managed and monitored with the capability of remote diagnosis and fix of the system. 

At the same time TRBOcall can control the functions and features of the radios remotely without the need to recall radios from the field. All of these are aimed at reducing and eliminating down time to operatives in the field. 

Systems were deployed at the two converter stations and the O&M base which were connected to the TRBOcall hub using secure VPN IT connections with automatic failover in the unlikely event that the primary IT connection is lost. 

This allows seamless communication across the three geographically separated sites so that operatives at Creyke beck can communicate directly back to the O&M base at Tyne Dock or Lackenby and vice versa. 

The systems were also deployed with 12-hour battery back up in the event of total power failure at any of the sites. Ultimately the TRBOcall are sites are deployed to provide mission critical communications that must work when other systems fail.

TRBOcall has a range of enterprise software applications that can be deployed remotely to enhance productivity, efficiency, and safety of operatives in the field. The choice of application is dependent upon the requirement and operating environment. 

As the converter stations are remote then worker safety becomes paramount. TRBOcall comes with a range of advanced worker safety features that have been deployed and these include panic alarm, lone worker, and man down alarms. 

When these alarms are triggered, the system notifies a range of responders from the dispatch team at the the O&M base, to coworkers nearby and or external third-party responder agencies. The emergency when triggered follows a prescribed escalation route as defined by Equinor to ensure that the alarm is never missed and responded to appropriately. 

When the alarm is raised it also contains vital location details that pinpoints the exact location of the worker in distress both externally, using GPS and within buildings, using internal location beacons. 

TRBOcall records every voice and data message so that these can be replayed post incident for investigative purposes and to help train personnel in the correct use of radios in an emergency. 

The built-in Automatic Registration System (ARS) coupled with the ability to create Geofences around the sites within the system lets the dispatcher at the O&M know when teams arrive and leave the converter stations so that they know when to monitor.

TRBOcall is based on the Motorola Capacity Max system architecture that deploys systems at site that contain Motorola’s SLR5500 repeaters coupled with a UHF antenna system to provide 100% RF coverage at each converter site. 

The Motorola R7 Premium full keypad radios were given to the O&M team members that served as a communication device as well as an invaluable health and safety tool. The added advantage of the R7 is that it is a rugged and robust device that could stand up to the tough operating environments found in the renewable industry.

To ensure that that the stem operates with uninterrupted service it is further supported by the Eemits Communications Service Wrap provision. 

This includes telecare support services, with a direct number to engineers - providing fast and accurate turnaround to any issues, rapid reaction to onsite faults where remote diagnosis and fix is not achievable; preventative site maintenance or ‘health check’ to get eyes on the equipment at site to ensure operating parameters and the environment hasn’t changed as well as ensuring the equipment is operating at optimally. 

Annual visits are accompanied with reports highlighting defects found, and opportunities to improve the system; hardware ‘hot swap’ to ensure that the systems maintain their operating integrity and hardware repair of any defective radio equipment.

Contact Eemits about your project

If you've got a major project that requires an ultra-smart two-way communication system - at a cost-effective price - then contact us today. Alternatively, you can call us on 0800 328 0100 between 8:30am and 5:15pm, Monday to Friday.