The Challenge

One of the primary barriers to widespread offshore wind development is high capital cost. While modern systems have achieved strong performance in safety and reliability, the next step is to optimize economic feasibility. A key factor is properly accounting for regional exposure to extreme environmental events. Currently, many designs fail to reflect localized variability – particularly in regions like Atlantic Canada – where it is inappropriate to assume European codes are directly transferable. Without region-specific consideration, excessive conservatism can inflate design margins and drive-up costs unnecessarily.

Our Solution

C-CORE supports offshore wind energy development by delivering regionally tailored, data-driven insights to reduce cost without compromising safety. We evaluate design criteria, regulatory frameworks, and standards to ensure they reflect local environmental conditions and exposure profiles. Using advanced modeling tools, we simulate wind, wave, current, and ice impacts on both bottom-fixed and floating offshore structures, allowing for accurate assessment of structural response under extreme conditions.

Our approach combines machine learning with hindcast metocean datasets to forecast site-specific energy production, identify optimal maintenance windows, and estimate downtime risks. In collaboration with the National Research Council, we also conduct scaled physical modeling of wind, wave, and ice interactions at world-class testing facilities to validate numerical models and support design verification.

C-CORE’s geotechnical team further enhances offshore wind design through detailed analysis of foundations, mooring systems, and seabed-structure interactions. Using scaled centrifuge modeling, we evaluate complex geotechnical behavior including anchor performance, pile response, and cable-soil interaction under cyclic loading from environmental forces. Our numerical tools assess structural deflection, resistance, and capacity under wind and ice conditions – individually and in combination.

By tailoring every aspect of our analysis to regional conditions, we help clients avoid unnecessary overdesign, reducing capital costs and improving project viability in Atlantic Canada and beyond.