Autonomous Coating & Repair of
Splash Zones
Ocean Winds Challenge #2
The Challenge
Offshore wind foundations — such as steel monopiles, jackets and floaters — are exposed to harsh marine environments, particularly in the splash zone of turbine foundations - the area exposed to both sea and air – where alternating wet and dry conditions accelerate corrosion. To ensure structural integrity over the asset’s lifetime, these structures are coated – covered during fabrication with a layer of coating. However, there is still room for improvement in the inspection and repairs of the splash zone.
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Ocean Winds is seeking innovative autonomous solutions that enable continuous inspection and repair of protective coatings in the splash zone. The goal is to ensure coating integrity proactively, reducing corrosion of foundations and the need for human intervention to improve the long-term durability of turbine foundations.
What we're looking for
We are looking for autonomous or semi-autonomous systems capable of:
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Inspecting the condition of protective coatings in the splash zone in real-time or at regular intervals.
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Detecting coating degradation, damage, or early signs of corrosion.
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Executing repairs (e.g., cleaning, recoating, sealing) without requiring dry-docking or major human intervention.
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Operating reliably in dynamic marine conditions (waves, tides, biofouling, etc.).
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Solutions may include robotic systems, sensor networks, AI-driven monitoring platforms, or hybrid approaches.
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Be capable of operating in the splash zone (above and below waterline).
Must-haves​
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Provide reliable detection of coating damage or corrosion.
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Include a mechanism for performing or triggering coating repairs.
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Be designed for long-term deployment offshore with minimal maintenance.
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Be scalable and adaptable to different foundation types (monopiles, jackets, floaters, etc.).
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Minimum TRL 5 or higher, with a roadmap toward commercial readiness.
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Easily integrable with existing offshore monitoring systems in the wind farm.
Nice to have
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Incorporate AI, machine learning and/or computer vision to analyse coating integrity and detect corrosion at early stages (predictive maintenance).
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Cleaning and coating repair functionalities integrated into the system.
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Operable remotely from shore or a nearby vessel.
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Minimize environmental impact during operation.
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Solutions that require frequent manual intervention or diver operations.
Not a fit
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Systems that only provide one-time inspections without repair capability.
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Technologies that are not adapted for splash zone environments.
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Concepts that are purely theoretical without a clear path to prototype or deployment (not yet validated or is below TRL 5).
Ideal Applicants
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Marine technology developers, robotics companies, ROV developers, or startups with autonomous offshore inspection/repair technologies.
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Civil, material, or naval engineering firms with experience in coating systems or infrastructure maintenance.
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Technology teams combining hardware, AI, and offshore operations expertise.
What Succes looks like
Ocean Winds successfully deploys an autonomous solution that regularly inspects the splash zones of offshore wind foundations, accurately identifies early signs of corrosion or coating degradation, and either performs or enables timely coating repairs with minimal human intervention. The solution should operate reliably in challenging marine conditions over extended periods of time, contributing to increased infrastructure lifespan and reliability by maintaining optimal coating performance, leading to more sustainable, cost-effective, and resource-efficient offshore wind operations.
The Challenger
Born out of a strategic alliance between EDP Renewables and ENGIE, Ocean Winds develops, owns, builds and operates offshore wind farms all over the world. Ocean Winds increases its gross capacity day by day generating clean energy for millions of homes and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Ocean Winds is taking offshore wind power generation to its full potential, leading the global energy transition into a greener future.
