The RenewableUK Global Offshore Wind Conference 2023 took place in London from 14th - 15th June 2023. This flagship conference was attended by over 160 key players from the offshore wind sector and was packed with talks from industry leaders, policy makers, regulators, and innovators at the cutting edge of offshore wind.

The second Living Windfarms Project hybrid workshop was held at the University of East Anglia on the 16th of March 2023. The workshop outlined current decommissioning legislation and included participants in discussions about the process of decommissioning and the necessary ecological considerations.

At the end of February, Exo Engineering was invited to attend the Concrete Society 2022 Regional Awards for Devon and Cornwall ceremony and charity lunch. This event celebrates innovative developments and applications of concrete in the region.

On the 16th of February, we attended the AIP (Algae Innovation Platform) showcase event hosted at Hethel Engineering Centre. This was the first in-person event the AIP has hosted and provided us with the chance to sample local and national seaweed products! The talks from Norfolk Seaweed, S.A.C. Consulting and University of East Anglia showcased the groups’ successes, uses of macro and micro algae and the potential for local industry expansion. Innovations are being implemented at every stage of production forming a budding industry utilizing the latest data from environmental research to artificial intelligence.

Decommissioning is the last phase in the lifetime of infrastructure projects such as offshore windfarms, involving the shutting down of operations and removing materials and equipment from the site. By 2030, about 600 offshore wind turbines should be decommissioned with 72% of them based upon monopile foundations. There is need for a cost-effective way of decommissioning and repurposing offshore wind infrastructure that considers the marine environment in which they were installed.

The overall objective of SARCC (Sustainable and Resilient Coastal Cities, 2019-2022) was to help bring nature-based solutions (NBS) into mainstream coastal management and policy making, either as stand-alone projects or NBS-hybrids, where they are integrated into existing infrastructure and flood defences. The project aimed to inspire urban leaders, decision-makers and officers involved in coastal flood defences to deploy NBS and understand the additional benefits that they offer in comparison to traditional grey infrastructure.

Following the Living Windfarms Project workshop, Exo Engineering carried out a day of ExoReef strength testing. The project targets the use of conventional scour protection vessel loading and mass deployment methods which involve large impacts and stresses. Therefore, testing is needed to mimic the impact that will likely be exerted on the ExoSpheres during the loading and deployment phases.

Our first Living Windfarms Project hybrid workshop took place at the University of Essex, featuring speakers from the University, as well as Bournemouth University, the Rich North Sea, and Exo Engineering. The workshop began with introductions to the project and partner organisations before exploring the interactions between scour protection and biodiversity in the North Sea.

The natural environment provides us with a plethora of ecosystem services: These include regulating the climate, releasing oxygen we breathe and providing medicinal benefits to name a few. Nature is arguably the greatest innovator; we can examine how nature has evolved to overcome various problems and apply this to solve human design challenges.