5G at sea: Providing Offshore Wind with Safety-Critical Communications

JET is developing floating 5G networks, enabling high-speed connectivity and real-time data collection/transfer on the same buoy platform, with a highly resilient and persistent blended sensor network for ocean and environmental monitoring. JET has worked closely with the offshore wind sector to explore requirements around improved reliability, shaping our solutions to market needs, focused on improving overall operational reliability and optimisation within early phase installation and commissioning.

JET's position in the marketplace currently is bringing a disruptive technology solution to the fast-growing offshore wind sector. It is the only meshed, solar powered, floating 5G network solution available and is currently at the stage of piloting ready for commercial service provision.

JET is already well positioned for growth within the offshore wind sector, with clear routes-to-market identified. Engagements and discussions with offshore wind owners and developers have identified that continuous safety-critical communications and real-time data capture has the potential to optimise and improve reliability and efficiency within the installation and operations of farms.

Market research and business development activities have confirmed strong customer needs and willingness to invest in this solution, with telecommunications budgets for wind farm installations already in existence.We have initial test platforms being deployed at sea, and envisage network growth to cover the seas surrounding the UK in coming years, with international expansion to the East-coast US expected as soon as 2024\. This project is focused on delivering the pilot network which will unlock our ability to deploy our networks at the scale we envisage, to meet customer requirements and demands.This project will deliver an innovative pilot of the world's-first floating private 5G network as a bespoke meshed connectivity solution, providing safety-critical communications, alongside a multitude of 5G-enabled solutions (e.g., robotics, autonomy and remote monitoring).

The project will conduct late-stage R&D to finalise our floating 5G stack and network, before deploying four buoys and establishing an underlying blueprint of innovative 5G connectivity infrastructure at sea, for future wind farm communications, enabling corporate risk management. The project will highlight collaboration opportunities between JET and Offshore wind partners in the areas of technology, proving the deployment of the network, operational change, and maintenance, whilst fostering innovation and knowledge transfer.