Future Energy Associates is a team of data scientists and energy specialists who develop software and utilise machine learning through artificial intelligence to optimise the design and operation of renewable energy and storage assets.
The software platform helps offshore wind farm developers optimise the layout of their turbines within a designated site boundary, balancing the cost of foundation installation with lifetime wind yield. The optimisation process uses a form of AI called a Bayesian search, that can intelligently choose layout parameters in a way that gives near-optimal results in manageable timeframes.
The energy sector has a severe shortage of data engineering and software development talent who also have knowledge and experience in renewable power. As the industry moves towards greater levels of digitalisation, the team at Future Energy Associates realised their overlapping skillsets were in high demand.
The team has worked with several offshore wind developers and forecasters at the cutting edge of the energy transition, delivering clean data and creating interactive insights, such as assessing the UK’s supply chain readiness for net zero goals that deliver impact.
Most recently, Future Energy Associates has been working with a major international developer of renewable energy in order to develop a suite of tools for enhancing the design of offshore wind farms. In testing, the optimal layouts generated by Future Energy Associates’ platform have been assessed against the developer’s own manual layouts and found that over the simulated lifetime of the wind farm, Future Energy’s designs reduce the farm’s LCOE by just under 2%. This translates to millions of pounds of savings and increased competitiveness with conventional power plants on the wholesale market.
Remarking on the benefits of being part of the 2022 Launch Academy cohort, Connor Galbraith, Director at Future Energy Associates, said: “Launch Academy has already provided us with strong insider industry knowledge and stakeholder introductions, including useful data from their test turbine in Blyth.
“Crucially, Launch Academy has helped us clarify our nascent product development goals. At the outset, we were planning to productise software for an offshore wind farm design optimisation tool but have since pivoted towards a more general wind resource analysis and planning tool that addresses the early-stage challenges faced by developers.
“ORE Catapult has been pivotal in helping us to solidify our business case, financial plans and brand value. Since joining the cohort, a former member of the SPR wind resources team has joined us to help develop the tool and our work on further prototypes.
“As we look towards the end of Launch Academy, we believe we shall be in a much stronger position to pitch for funding and to scale our technology. This is in a large part, thanks to the modules and advice from ORE Catapult and its partners.”
