Ossian agrees industry leading data sharing partnership with British Geological Survey

Ossian, which will be one of the world’s largest floating wind farms on completion, has agreed a partnership with the British Geological Survey (BGS) to share valuable data that will support the organisation’s work to understand Earth’s geological and environmental processes.

The data sharing agreement means Ossian – a joint venture between SSE Renewables, Marubeni and CIP - will provide BGS with information from its geophysical surveys examining the seabed around its 858km2 site which is situated 84km off the east coast of Scotland.

The British Geological Survey is a world-leading geological survey and global geoscience organisation. It provides geoscientific data, information and knowledge to help society use natural resources responsibly, manage environmental change effectively and be resilient to environmental hazards.

The Ossian site’s seabed, now around 72m below sea level, would once have been completely covered by ice. The geophysical data collected by Ossian will allow scientists to understand more about its composition and how this has changed over time due to environmental changes and challenges. BGS will now be able to advance its knowledge and understanding of the rock and soil units under the seabed and update its baseline data for the region to the benefit of the offshore industry as a whole.

BGS has worked with Ossian joint venture partner SSE Renewables on data sharing initiatives for more than a decade. Ossian is the first floating ScotWind project to formalise a partnership with the organisation which relies on the support of private sector companies to help maintain the most up to date modelling. Ossian will continue to explore further collaboration opportunities with BGS, which will include educational initiatives.

David Willson, Ossian’s senior project manager, comments:

“At Ossian collaboration is a key project value. As one of the first floating wind farms of commercial scale, we will be developing and testing new techniques and technologies and we recognise the positive impact that working collaboratively can have on the wider sector and the UK’s push to reach net-zero.”

“Our partnership with BGS allows us to contribute to the advancement of knowledge and understanding about the environment we are operating in and support the organisation’s invaluable work in informing better use of our marine resources.” 

Gareth Carter, marine geoscientist at BGS, comments:

“Maintaining the currency and integrity of our data is fundamental and partnerships with the private sector are essential to allow us to do this. This new agreement with Ossian will provide us with invaluable insight which will improve our geological understanding of the wider project site. Through this collaborative venture, we will be able to update our models and understanding of the ground conditions across the region, which will benefit all stakeholders in the offshore sector.

“BGS are very pleased to have the opportunity to continue our successful partnership with SSE through the Ossian data sharing initiative. As increasing numbers of offshore developments get underway, there is a significant opportunity for developers to take inspiration from Ossian’s collaborative approach and contribute to public-good science with similar data sharing initiatives.”