ISURUS ROV OPENS OPERATING WINDOWS
FOR RENEWABLES PROJECTS
Designed for the harsh weather conditions faced by offshore wind and renewables developments, the Isurus ROV stays in operation longer than traditional vehicle systems.
Nick Rouge, Subsea Robotics Product Manager, Oceaneering
A desire for cleaner energy production that reduces carbon emissions is leading the energy transition effort. More companies are opting to develop offshore wind and other renewable energy projects around the world to meet proposed environmental standards. One issue that the industry has encountered is that most of these projects are in shallow water and areas where there are severe tidal or gulfstream currents, such as Europe, Asia, and the Eastern coastline of the United States. This challenge is familiar to the offshore oil and gas industry: how do you safely keep operations running when difficult conditions arise offshore? Existing work class remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) are struggling to keep up with these raging tidal currents found at these offshore wind and renewable project development areas. Without a work class ROV available to monitor or execute operations, the entire vessel is put on hold, creating unnecessary and costly downtime.
The Isurus ROV, based on Oceaneering’s Magnum Work Class ROV system, combines optimized hydraulic propulsion packages and a hydrodynamic design for challenging offshore environments. (Courtesy of Oceaneering)
Oceaneering was approached by an offshore renewables developer to create an ROV solution that would open operational windows in these geographical areas where harsh currents can cause costly project delays. Expanding an ROV’s operating window in harsh currents brings obvious benefits due to typical cable lay vessel or construction vessel day rates ranging in excess of US$250,000 per day. A more flexible ROV for offshore wind projects would be necessary.
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