Case Study: Ørsted achieves safer, more efficient offshore wind construction with StormGeo

How live, accurate forecasting boosts Ørsted's offshore wind projects in the USA

Ørsted partnered with StormGeo on the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) pilot—two 6‑MW turbines sited 27 miles off Virginia Beach—to manage the weather risks that complicate planning, construction and commissioning of offshore wind. Ørsted needed live, highly accurate forecasts, local meteorological expertise for unfamiliar US weather (including hurricanes), and seamless integration with on‑site measurements to coordinate lifts, sailings and multi‑supplier logistics.

StormGeo delivered a tailored forecasting solution—including the StormGeo Vortex tool, live integration of Ørsted’s buoy observations, 24/7 local meteorologists out of its Houston center, and TropicsWatch/daily Atlantic briefings—that increased short‑term forecast reliability. The improved accuracy let Ørsted exploit very small weather windows (often as short as two hours) to rig and install blades, provided early warning for events like Hurricane Isaias, reduced operational delays, and helped keep the CVOW project on track (at peak production the project will power about 3,000 homes).

Ørsted

John Sim

WTG Commissioning Engineer