Overview
Semco Maritime is a leading provider of engineering and contracting services to the offshore energy sector, specialising in renewable energy and oil and gas industries. Their expertise includes designing, building, and maintaining offshore infrastructure, such as wind farms and substation platforms. Operating in challenging environments, Semco sought innovative solutions to enhance the design and performance of radio communications in wind farms, critical for managing operations and ensuring safety.
Challenge
Wind farms, often spanning up to 200 km², present unique challenges for network design. Extreme weather conditions, including high winds, lightning strikes, and temperature fluctuations, demand robust communication networks. In addition, maintaining effective coexistence with other service users, such as maritime and aviation communications within a 12-nautical-mile range, requires meticulous interference management.
Semco also sought to leverage the benefits of private 4G networks, including improved data rates and the introduction of advanced services like drones for inspections and medical support. Achieving this required a solution capable of addressing complex design requirements while optimising cost and performance.
Approach
To address these challenges, Semco integrated ATDI’s flagship RF planning software, HTZ Communications, into its operations. This tool allowed Semco to manage every phase of the network lifecycle, from pre-design and feasibility studies to ongoing optimisation. By assessing deployment feasibility, the software determined equipment requirements and aligned the network with key performance indicators such as coverage, capacity, and data rates.
HTZ was also instrumental in conducting detailed interference analysis and coexistence studies, enabling Semco to coordinate interference levels and ensure seamless operation alongside other communication systems within a 12-nautical-mile range. Through network optimisation, Semco refined designs prior to rollout, reducing costs and improving performance while minimising equipment requirements.
Validation and verification processes further enhanced network reliability. Data collected from vessel-based Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) compared actual network performance against initial projections, creating a reusable baseline for future deployments.
Solution
By leveraging HTZ Communications, Semco Maritime successfully addressed the complexities of designing private 4G networks for wind farms. The software enabled Semco to optimise networks before deployment, ensuring resilience to harsh offshore conditions while achieving cost efficiencies. Comprehensive interference and coexistence studies ensured smooth integration with other communication systems in the region. The validation and verification results provided a foundation for improving future network designs, reducing planning time, and further enhancing reliability.
