Offshore wind is often viewed as a natural extension of onshore wind energy, benefiting from stronger and more consistent wind resources. However, the transition from land to sea fundamentally alters the engineering problem. The offshore environment introduces complex and dynamic forces—arising from waves, currents, and seabed interactions—which become primary drivers of design and structural behaviour.

This talk presents an engineering perspective on offshore systems, using offshore wind Turbine as a primary example. It begins with a comparison between onshore and offshore systems, followed by a high-level overview of offshore wind farm architecture. The focus then shifts to the marine environment and its role in shaping design decisions, with particular emphasis on the estimation and interpretation of environmental loads. Key structural concepts, including fixed-bottom foundations (such as monopiles and jackets) and floating platforms (such as spar and semi-submersible configurations), will be discussed in the context of water depth and environmental conditions. The session will also introduce fundamental approaches for modelling hydrodynamic forces, including Morison-type formulations and diffraction-based methods, and their implications for structural response and design constraints.

The stochastic nature of the ocean environment and its impact on engineering analysis will be highlighted. The objective is to develop an intuitive yet technically grounded understanding of fluid–structure interaction in offshore environments, and to illustrate how environmental loading governs the design and realisation of offshore systems. The talk frames offshore wind not only as an energy solution, but as an engineering problem defined by uncertainty, coupled physics, and environment-driven design.

About the Speaker

Devesh Kumar is an Installation Analysis Engineer at NKT, a power cable company. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and a Master’s degree in Ocean Engineering (Offshore Structures) from IIT Madras. His work focuses on the engineering analysis and feasibility assessment of subsea cable installations (HVAC and HVDC) for offshore infrastructure, including large-scale wind farms and electrification of oil and gas platforms. His core interests lie in understanding the role of the ocean environment in engineering design, particularly in wave–structure interaction and soil–structure interaction, and how these phenomena govern decision-making in offshore systems.



The event is online, but you must register to attend.