EngD Project Title: Mooring Optimisation by Full Life Cycle Assessment
Industrial Partner: Mainstream Renewable Power and Ocean Winds
Educational background
I completed a mechanical engineering (MEng) degree at The University of Edinburgh. Here, I took full advantage of the range of renewable energy courses available and undertook a final year project on economic dispatch modelling of offshore renewables. Upon graduation, I spent two years working in a graduate engineering role at Bosch Rexroth, where I worked with mobile hydraulics, before joining the IDCORE programme.
What attracted you to studying with IDCORE?
As I knew I wanted to join the vital and rapidly-developing renewable industry, I chose to study with IDCORE as it provided me with a route to kick-start my career in the sector. Having researched various routes into the industry, I couldn’t find a better option offering the unique blend of academic training and industry exposure that IDCORE does. Additionally, the cohort approach also stood out as very different to a conventional PhD and this has proved invaluable in creating a close network of Research Engineers working in different segments of the renewables industry across the UK and Europe.
What attracted you to offshore renewables industry? What aspects of the industry do you find most inspiring, interesting or important for the future?
The need for renewable energy to be a more significant part of our energy mix has been clear for a while and, as a keen sailor, the idea of extracting energy from the offshore environment seemed entirely natural to me. So, after seeing the growth trajectory of the offshore renewables in the UK, joining that sector seemed the logical next step in my career.
The upcoming floating wind projects are particularly exciting. Floating wind has been proven to be technically viable, but achieving the scale of ambition that has been established by the likes of the ScotWind leasing round, in which the option agreements for giga-watt scale arrays have been granted, will require industrial-scale innovation. If successful, the prize is substantial, with massive new areas of seabed being unlocked with higher quality wind resource than previously seen, which promises to make a substantial contribution to our future energy mix.
What ambition would you like to fulfil as a Research Engineer?
My project is looking at mooring systems for floating offshore wind turbines, with Mainstream Renewable Power (MRP). I hope that my project will provide a robust methodology for the assessment of mooring systems that MRP can use in the various floating projects that they are developing, lowering the cost of the technology and helping to ensure that floating wind can be a commercial success. At the end of the programme, I hope to emerge as an expert in mooring systems and that I will continue to apply what I have learned in impactful renewables projects throughout my career.
To learn more about Jonathan and his journey with IDCORE, including his reasons for joining IDCORE, please see Jonathan’s Case Study:
https://www.idcore.ac.uk/case-studies/jonathan-glasspool
