ARROWS

The importance of offshore wind energy has been on the rise for years motivated by the transition to renewable energies in the context of ongoing climate change. One result of this trend, though, are the potential impacts on society due to safety and security  threats facing Offshore Wind Farms (OWF). Consequently, there is an increasing interest in solutions that assess and improve the response of OWF to such kind of events.

Goals and Methodology

The goal of this project, which continues the activities of the preceding project KÜS (KPI-based monitoring of the security situation of offshore wind farms), is both the development of methods for assessing the degree of resilience and risk of OWF with regard to safety and security as well as the research on approaches that enable to enhance the resilience towards threats to the safety and security of this infrastructure. Therefore, different aspects of OWF shall be considered, including the energy provision as well as operation and maintenance processes ‑­ both with emphasis on security aspects, the integrity of surveillance systems as well as the overall safety and security of the OWF infrastructure including offshore platforms. As a result, a decision support system shall be conceptualized that integrates a high-level holistic model of the OWF and adequate methods for assessment of resilience and risk in the context of safety and security. Additionally, the project strives for the development of concept of an operable risk and resilience management for safety and security aspects of OWF.

Innovations and perspectives

The model-based assessment and enhancement of the resilience of critical infrastructures in the maritime domain is an emerging topic that is of gaining importance. It requires the development of models that represent such socio-technical system in a way that meaningful analyses are possible. A further important aspect is the research and development of operable solutions that enable stakeholders to prepare against known and unknown threats, to anticipate such threats, to recover in a timely and efficient manner from hazards and to learn from incidents.