GRI LAUNCHES THE FLOATWIND PROJECT

GRI participates in the INNCODIS tractor project (“DEVELOPMENT OF AN INNOVATIVE INDUSTRIAL ECOSYSTEM FOR A COMPETITIVE, DIVERSIFIED AND SUSTAINABLE NAVAL SECTOR”), approved by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, within the Naval Industry Incentive Programme.

Specifically, GRI leads the primary project FLOATWIND, whose main objective is the research of new solutions for the design and manufacture of superstructures for floating offshore wind turbines.

The implementation of the project will revolutionise the manufacture of new generation offshore superstructures for wind turbines through the introduction of new advanced materials, innovative technologies in welding strategies and defect detection and improved surface treatment processes. This transformation, supported by digitalisation and Industry 4.0 technologies, will optimise production and improve structural quality.

The project aims to address these challenges with 6 major work packages:

• Requirements analysis and technology research for the manufacture of superstructures. Reducing the size and weight of offshore wind structures through the use of new materials. In addition, it focuses on cyber-physical technologies crucial for superstructure fabrication and on specifications for an integrated digital factory model, covering processes such as surface treatment, welding and inspection.
• New advanced welding processes. Research into new high-efficiency welding processes and new materials in the offshore wind industry, increasing process productivity and product quality.
• New surface treatment processes for offshore structures. Research and development of new surface treatment processes and schemes for offshore wind structures capable of improving the efficiency of the process, guaranteeing the quality and durability of the product and at the same time improving the environmental impact by means of new formulations.
• Research on intelligent inspection systems for offshore structures. Research into advanced inspection technologies for large volume offshore structures, seeking to innovate in areas that are currently manual and post-manufacturing by obtaining disruptive processes for the intelligent inspection of large surface areas.
• Investigation of a digital twin solution for new processes. Design and validation of a data collection, management and analysis strategy for a digital twin. The aim is to use this digital twin entity to model key processes in the production chain.
• Evaluation of a disruptive manufacturing route for floating offshore wind turbines. The objective is to consolidate the knowledge acquired from the technological validations by means of “proof-of-concept” experimental stations associated with each previous work package.

GRI Towers Sevilla will provide an industrial laboratory located in the CIU3A Innovation Centre, equipped with the necessary tools for the creation of prototypes and execution of concept tests. The development line and proofs of concept in the inspection area will be carried out at the GRI Towers Galicia plant, where intelligent systems for defect detection can be trained using real data.  Both technical teams participate in the project.

These actions have been subsidised by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism through the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism and financed by the European Union-Next Generation EU in the framework of the aid for actions of integration and transformation of the industrial value chain of the naval sector, within the Strategic Project for the Recovery and Economic Transformation for the modernisation and diversification of the Spanish naval ecosystem (PERTE NAVAL).