TWinYards – Scaling up for offshore wind at Norwegian yards: Efficient operations through digital twins and artificial intelligence

In the coming decades, many offshore wind turbines will be built and operated, playing a key role in the green transition. This creates many opportunities for Norwegian shipyards. Norway is known worldwide for being the best in maritime equipment design and production, giving us a strong foundation for success in offshore wind. However, shipyards need to become more efficient to succeed. Norwegian shipyards have previously been criticized for being too expensive and not productive enough. Although things are improving, they need to be even more efficient. They need to cut costs by 10-15% to win new contracts and help make the offshore wind industry profitable. Therefore, we need more knowledge on how to make shipyard operations smarter. Digital twins and artificial intelligence have been successful in other industries for reducing costs and increasing efficiency. In shipyards, digital models have mostly been used for product development. We don't know much about how they can help plan labor, equipment, and infrastructure better. With digital twins and artificial intelligence, shipyards can get better data and analysis, leading to more detailed and accurate plans. This can reduce time spent on non-value-adding tasks. The goal of the TWinYards project is to find out how to make Norwegian shipyards more efficient by using digital twins and artificial intelligence. This way, shipyards can cut costs and contribute to sustainable operations and a sustainable focus on offshore wind.

A high number of offshore wind turbines is expected to be built, installed, operated, and decommissioned over the next decades, constituting a critical element in the green shift. This offers numerous opportunities for the Norwegian yard industry. Norway leads globally in maritime equipment design and production, with unique expertise and infrastructure, providing a solid foundation for success in offshore wind. However, the success relies on more efficient yard operations. The Norwegian yard industry's lack of cost competitiveness and productivity has been stressed previously, and even though there are signs of improvement, their effectiveness should have been much higher. They need to reduce costs by 10-15% to win newbuild orders in the long run and be able to contribute to the cost efficiency improvements required for a profitable offshore wind industry. There is, therefore, an urgent need for increased knowledge on efficient operations of the yards. Digital twins and artificial intelligence have been successfully used in manufacturing to reduce costs and improve efficiency. In the yard industry, the use of digital models has primarily been from a product perspective. There is a lack of knowledge on how they can support efficient planning of the people, equipment, and infrastructure at yards. With digital twins and artificial intelligence, yards gain access to robust data and analytical capabilities that provide more detailed and accurate plans and schedules that minimize non-value adding activities, promising a significant reduction in non-value adding time. The overall objective of TWinYards is to develop knowledge on how to achieve resource efficiency and flow in the Norwegian yard industry by exploiting digital twins and artificial intelligence. The yards will thereby be able to reduce costs and contribute to green yard operations and a sustainable shift towards offshore wind.