Digital Twins, AI to Help North Star's SOV Fleet Boost Efficiency, Cut Emissions

MO4, a company providing digital twin solutions for offshore wind farm O&M and turbine and installation vessels, has won a 10-year contract with North Star, a company soon to have a fleet of service operations vessels (SOV) of offshore wind.

The contract is for MO4's propriety digital twin and artificial intelligence (AI) decision support software package, which will be utilized on all four of North Star's service operations vessel (SOV) fleet.

The four hybrid-powered ships are bound for the Dogger Bank Wind Farm, which is being developed by joint partners Equinor, SSE Renewables and Eni, and will be operated by Equinor throughout the project’s anticipated 35-year lifespan. Once fully operational, the 3.6GW offshore wind farm will be the world's largest.

MO4’s technology will provide operational data analytics and forecasting support to help drive efficiencies across the fleet including lower carbon emissions through reduced fuel usage.

MO4 said its solution would ensure operations are performed continuously within safety limits across North Star's SOV fleet but "without excess conservatism and thereby making a step-change in operational efficiency."

The digital solution gathers data on influential areas such as weather fronts, workloads, work routes, and drop-off schedules to help make informed decisions. As all four vessels will be monitored and harmonized, the ongoing AI learning will also help to increase in-field efficiencies further, the company said.