Oliver Phelan awarded the 2023 Oceanex Energy Scholarship

Oliver is in the last year of his renewable energy engineering degree, concurrently holding a part-time position at WSP’s Newcastle office as an Undergraduate in Renewable Energy. He has received the Oceanex Energy Scholarship to aid his final-year project, which delves into the impact of strong winds on offshore wind turbines, particularly in the conditions found off the Australian coastline.

The expectation is that I will be able to make a recommendation as to whether the turbines will be able to safely withstand the mechanical loadings expected in extreme weather events in Australia, and more specifically Newcastle,” says Oliver.

“Whilst offshore wind farming is a mature technology in other parts of the world, currently no offshore wind infrastructure exists in Australia. This is an important contribution as it aims to quantify and reduce the risk of offshore turbine installations in Australia.”

The project entails conducting computer simulations of airflow around an offshore wind turbine blade by employing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software. Oliver developed a model of a blade extracted from a 15 MW turbine within a controlled volume, which represents a finite space used to replicate the airflow in proximity to the blade.

Subsequently, he constructed a ‘mesh’ for the 3D model, which divides the surfaces and volumes of the model into small cells where intricate fluid dynamics equations are resolved. A finer mesh consists of more cells and yields more precise outcomes, though it necessitates extended simulation time and computational capacity.

“In my case, I am using meshes with several million cells and simulation takes around a week using a high-powered computer server,” explains Oliver. “My mesh simulations are running, and I am obtaining results data in real time.”

Oliver is enthusiastic about his career as an engineer in the renewable energy sector. While he maintains a broad focus, he expresses, “Working at WSP and receiving support from Oceanex and Equinor through the scholarship has fostered a strong interest and connection to the offshore wind sector.”

He is discovering a natural alignment between his final-year studies and his role at WSP. He values the mentorship of WSP’s offshore wind experts, as well as the collaboration with the broader teams in renewables, transportation, and planning and approvals.

“My workload includes project tasks related to offshore wind farms as well as business development activities helping WSP prepare for an even greater contribution to the emerging offshore wind sector,” he says.

Commenting on the scholarship, Oliver says, “It felt massively encouraging. It is exciting to be supported to contribute to an area I am genuinely interested and invested in.”

A career in renewable energy is a logical path for Oliver, considering his personal interests and family background in the field.

“My parents share a history of activism and my father’s PhD research topic looked into the effects of climate change,” says Oliver. “Ever since I was little, I wanted to be an engineer – even if I didn’t know what it meant – and it was an obvious choice given my interest in science, mathematics, and mechanics.”

“It’s particularly meaningful and exciting to me to be able to complete a renewable-energy-focused degree, so that I can embark on a career supporting the urgent transition to non-greenhouse-gas-emitting, renewable energy sources.”

Given the numerous offshore wind projects currently in the planning stages, including the Novocastrian Offshore Wind Farm and Illawarra Offshore Wind Farm projects by Oceanex and Equinor, there will be a substantial demand for skilled professionals.

WSP is enthusiastic about fostering the growth of a sustainable, ethical, and forward-thinking Australian offshore wind sector. We take pride in nurturing the careers of emerging talents like Oliver, who will play a vital role in shaping the industry’s future.

“Congratulations on the scholarship Oliver, we look forward to seeing where you will progress to in the coming years in the exciting and evolving world around renewable energy”, says James Perry, Principal Engineer, Offshore Wind.