Short Course 3
SI Fiction: Offshore Wind Development for Geoscientists, from Site investigations to Wind fARM dESIGN
Level: Intermediate
This one‑day interactive course provides geoscientists with a practical, end‑to‑end introduction to offshore wind farm development. Participants follow the full project lifecycle, from early project framing and site investigations to concept design, using a realistic case study. Combining concise lectures with team‑based assignments, the course immerses participants in real project decision-making. Through a “boardgame” simulation, teams define project goals, plan a site investigation (SI) campaign, interpret SI results, and design a fit‑for‑purpose offshore wind farm layout. This hands‑on format mirrors the multidisciplinary collaboration typical of offshore wind projects and demonstrates how geoscience influences engineering decisions, cost drivers, risks, and overall project feasibility. Designed for geoscientists entering the offshore wind sector or collaborating within mixed technical teams, the course bridges subsurface expertise with offshore wind project delivery frameworks. Participants gain a clear understanding of how geoscience contributes to successful, risk‑aware offshore wind development in a rapidly evolving energy landscape
Date
6 November
Time
9:00-17:00
Location
Hannover Congress Centrum
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COURSE OBJECTIVES
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
1. Describe the major phases of offshore wind development—from site identification to design and pre‑construction readiness.
2. Connect geoscience inputs to project decisions, highlighting links to cost, risk, environmental constraints, and schedule.
3. Plan a site investigation (SI) program that aligns with project location, budget, and timeline constraints.
4. Interpret SI data and apply insights to foundation selection and layout design using the gameboard simulation.
5. Collaborate effectively in multidisciplinary teams, integrating geophysical, geotechnical, environmental, and commercial considerations.
6. Evaluate design trade‑offs and articulate how geoscience informs strategic development choices.
Course Outline
A balanced mix of mini lectures, group based assignments, and feedback sessions:
1. Introduction to Offshore Wind & Project Lifecycle
Lecture 1: Offshore wind fundamentals; development phases; introduction to the case study and Assignment.
Assignment 1: Participants to get familiar with the project goals, constraints, risks and risks based on the materials provided (including a boardgame with that contains a map of the project area, define a project time-schedule based on a Gantt-chart-puzzle in which the workflow-elements are predefined and have to be put in a specific sequence to make the project work.
Feedback session: Evaluation of the project goals, risks, and sequence results from different teams. Discussion led by the facilitator. Facilitators will challenge by including unexpected events like weather delay, etc.
2. Planning Site Investigations
Lecture 2: Principles of offshore wind SI programs (GP, GT, GM); links between SI programs, project risk, and certification process (DNV).
Assignment 2: Participants to develop a Site Investigation strategy based on a card-game that contains cards that present the different SI-elements, including costs, timeline, and quality of the results. Make the Site Investigation strategy fit within a predefined budget and should meet the required Site Investigation quality as much as possible.
Feedback session: Evaluation of the SI Strategy of different teams. Discussion led by the facilitator. Facilitators will challenge by including unexpected events like UXO discovery, budget cuts, etc.
3. Interpreting Site Investigation Results
Lecture 3: Geophysical and geotechnical data interpretation for OWF design (show issues with cable burial, pile refusal, geohazards, UXO, turbine spacing, etc.); introduction to Assignment 3.
Assignment 3: Participants will interpret SI results based on a boardgame on which Site Investigation maps can be placed. Define the offshore wind farm layout on the boardgame based on the SI results.
Feedback session: Evaluation of the SI interpretation of different teams. Discussion led by the facilitator.
4. Wrap Up & Lessons Learned
Each team presents its final offshore wind farm layout, key decisions, risk considerations, and lessons learned.
Open discussion and instructor debrief. Preparation & Course Materials.
Materials provided include: Worksheets with project information, One board game per team for OWF SI planning and design exercises.
Assignment 1: Empty Project Execution Plan (go als, constraints, risk register) to be filled out. Gantt-chart-puzzle. Assignment 2: Cards with cost and quality per SI survey element. Assignment 3: Map sets for interpretation and offshore wind farm infrastructure that can be put on the board game.
End of day survey to evaluate learning outcomes, pacing, and relevance. of day survey to evaluate learning outcomes, pacing, and relevance.
Participant Profile
The course is designed for the broader geoscience community, not only those who work with PDE-based problems on a daily basis. To support this inclusiveness, each module consists of two parts: a preliminary section (lecture only) to ensure everyone shares a basic foundation, followed by the main instructional section (lecture and hands-on practice with Python) where the learning strategies are introduced in depth. On top of this, the course begins with opening remarks and ends with a closing session, enhancing coherence and providing a complete, well-structured learning experience.
Prerequisites
Prior familiarity with (1) numerical solutions of differential equations, e.g., finite-difference method, and (2) automatic differentiation will help participants better understand the nature of PINNs. Prior familiarity with traditional deep learning, especially neural networks such as U-Net, ResNet, and Transformers, will help participants better understand the characteristics of neural operators. However, these are not strict requirements; participants will still be able to follow the course with the support of the preliminary modules.
Participants are expected to be familiar with Python coding and with using platforms such as GitLab or similar tools. The course only allocates time for environment setup.
