Speaker: Dr. Kenneth Bisgaard Christensen
Date & Time: Monday, 14th July, 13:00 - 14:00
Location: IRZ-Library
Title: Future-Proofing Offshore Wind Farms: Probabilistic Structural Integrity and Life Extension Modelling for Repowering Monopiles
Abstract:
A significant share of Europe’s offshore wind fleet is approaching the end of its design life, posing a critical challenge for maintaining and expanding renewable energy capacity. Repowering existing wind farms with next-generation turbines offers a cost-effective and sustainable alternative to full decommissioning, but introduces substantial uncertainty regarding the structural reliability of ageing offshore foundations. These monopile-supported structures have been exposed to decades of cyclic loading, corrosion, and seabed interaction, often under design frameworks with limited probabilistic consideration.
This research aims to develop an integrated modelling framework for assessing the residual capacity and life extension potential of offshore monopiles under repowering scenarios. The approach will combine digital twin methodologies with Bayesian degradation modelling to incorporate sparse inspection data and continuously update structural states in a probabilistic manner. In parallel, multi-physics simulations will be used to capture coupled aerodynamic and hydrodynamic loading, including wake and wave–wake interaction effects, which are increasingly critical for next-generation turbine configurations.
The framework will be demonstrated through a case study based on the Horns Rev wind farm, where probabilistic simulations will evaluate long-term degradation, residual strength, and the impact of increased loading from larger turbines. The results will be integrated into a decision-support tool to enable risk-informed comparison of repowering, life extension, and decommissioning strategies. This work aims to contribute to uncertainty-aware digital twins for offshore energy infrastructure and support robust decision-making under uncertainty in complex energy systems.
Biography:
I am an Assistant Professor of Technical Offshore Management at SEA Business Academy in Denmark, specialising in offshore energy systems, structural reliability, and uncertainty quantification. I hold a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Aberdeen, where my research focused on thermo-mechanical behaviour and advanced modelling of offshore structures.
My research is inherently interdisciplinary, spanning offshore wind farm layout optimisation, cryogenic-based decommissioning of offshore structures, and beam interception devices for high-energy particle physics. Building on this foundation, my current work focuses on offshore wind farm repowering, integrating physics-based modelling with data-driven approaches to address uncertainty in complex energy systems.
I develop methodologies that combine Bayesian inference and Physics-Informed Neural Networks to enable uncertainty-aware digital twins and risk-informed decision-making for offshore infrastructure. My work is aligned with the transition towards sustainable energy systems, supporting lifecycle optimisation and improved reliability of offshore assets.
I have gained international research experience through collaborations across Europe, including work at CERN. I have authored peer-reviewed publications in offshore engineering and energy systems, and I contribute to the research community as a committee member of the Applied Mechanics Group at the Institute of Physics.
If you would like to participate online via Webex, please contact Torsten Ilsemann before the presentation.
