SOLUTION / PUBLIC SOURCE RECORD
Light Structures fibre-optic fatigue monitoring for floating wind
- Published November 6, 2023; updated September 30, 2026; estimated reading time 3 minutes. Status: available. Categories: Offshore wind / Balance of plant and Operation and maintenance; Energy.
- Light Structures’ SENSFIB system uses Fibre Bragg Grating optical sensing to monitor stress, deflection and vibration and calculate fatigue in floating offshore wind turbines. It reports real-time data and analysis to asset owners and is tailored to each wind farm. The article contrasts optical sensing with strain gauges, claiming higher accuracy, no annual or twice-yearly recalibration costs, and lower maintenance needs.
- The page describes floating turbines as exposed to continuous wind and wave loads, with fatigue risk amplified by the very large turbine mass and remote sites more than 100 km offshore in water up to 300 m deep. Monitoring is intended to reveal structural condition before failure, quantify fatigue uncertainty and flag maintenance or shutdown needs.
- Claimed benefits include lower operating costs and financial risk, fewer accidents and improved worker safety, and reduced environmental risk from offshore failures. The article says monitoring typically costs 1–5% of an asset’s cost. It cites a forecast that floating offshore wind could produce 264 GW, or 15% of offshore wind energy, by 2050. Founded in 2001 as a spin-off from the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment, Light Structures lists Equinor and the US Coast Guard among customers and describes itself as a leading fiber-optic hull-stress monitor supplier. SDGs 7, 8 and 14 shown. The source inconsistently spells the system once as “SENSIB” after identifying it as SENSFIB.
- Contact: Christian Wold, Sales Director, cwo@lightstructures.no; phone reveal control collapsed. Company: LIGHT STRUCTURES AS, Nils Hansens vei 8, 0667 Oslo, Norway; lightstructures.com.