The WILLOW consortium is advancing research into offshore wind farm corrosion monitoring . The project aims to reduce inspection costs by 50%, extend wind farm lifetimes by five years, and lower the Levelised Cost of Energy by up to 10%.
One of the main test sites is the Blue Accelerator in Ostend, Belgium. Here, partners are trialling electrochemical methods to detect pitting corrosion, a critical factor in offshore structure fatigue. Commercial sensors from MetriCorr and newly developed sensors from C-Cube have been installed in splash, tidal and submerged zones to compare uniform and localised corrosion processes. Corrosion coupons placed in January have already revealed severe pitting in splash zones and faster corrosion in tidal and external submerged areas.
Additional work includes a mudline corrosion experiment to investigate unmonitored areas where monopiles enter the seabed, with specialised C-Cube sensors set for installation in September 2025. Drone-based thermal imaging surveys using Alerion’s Hyperion platform are also underway to support AI models for corrosion detection.
The project brings together 12 partners from Spain, Belgium, The Netherlands, Norway and Germany, including CEIT (coordinator), 24Sea, Alerion, Basquenergy Cluster, C-Cube, Flanders Make, Norther, SIRRIS, SINTEF, TSI, VUB and Wölfel. The project is supported by a €5.8 million budget through the Horizon Europe programme.
