Daniel Noermark, Gabriela Ciontos
6 January 2026
How to keep the lights on when the weather fights back
When extreme weather hits, the stability of power systems, and security of energy supply depends on the performance of substations and other offshore assets. Daniel Noermark, offshore substations product owner at Ramboll, explores strategies for keeping these critical entities resilient under harsher operating conditions.
In today’s offshore wind market, developers, owners, and investors need assets to be delivered safely, quickly, and at a price that keeps the business case viable. But in regions facing severe weather, the cheapest solution on paper can become the most expensive one.
For example, in Southeast Asia, which is expected to make up 61% of the new worldwide wind energy capacity built between 2024 and 2030, climate impacts are set to worsen. According to the IEA, the increasing intensity of tropical cyclones poses risks to offshore energy infrastructure, including offshore substations.
As wind farms grow in capacity due to an increased demand for power, offshore substations become critical energy infrastructure, expected to keep working even when the weather fights back.
Why are offshore substations critical to meeting energy demand and energy security in regions prone to extreme weather like the Asia Pacific?
Offshore substations are critical for energy security in a world where electricity demand is rising, weather is becoming more extreme, and renewables are taking a central role in the energy mix. They gather electricity from a wind farm and deliver it safely to the onshore grid. Without a functioning offshore substation, even a fully operational wind farm cannot supply power. A single failure can compromise both offshore and onshore grid stability; it can take an entire gigawatt of generation offline, reducing revenue, investor confidence, and triggering contractual penalties.
"A substation that withstands a major storm or an earthquake with minimal or no damage becomes one of the most cost-effective assets in the network. Downtime, emergency interventions, and lost generation revenue can far outweigh the marginal additional construction costs. At the end of the day, the most expensive substation is the one that fails"
What are the most significant challenges when designing offshore substations in regions with extreme weather events?
Designing offshore substations for extreme weather is challenging because they must withstand powerful winds, huge waves, and strong ocean currents, all at the same time. Offshore wind farms are increasing in capacity, meaning each substation must handle more volumes of power and support more complex equipment. An increased topside size imposes greater structural demands on the foundation and seabed.
In the Asian region, seabed conditions are often soft or unstable and may also be affected by earthquakes, which adds to the challenge of meeting asset integrity requirements. These factors also underscore the critical need to protect offshore workers when extreme weather events strike.
Every design and operational decision must balance safety, reliability, and cost, ensuring the substation keeps working without becoming too expensive to build or maintain.
Is the challenge getting worse because of climate change?
Yes, climate change is making these challenges more difficult. Typhoons and hurricanes are becoming stronger and more frequent, while sea levels are rising impacting wave heights. The patterns are also changing, meaning events that were once rare can now happen several times during the lifetime of an offshore wind farm and offshore substation.
This increased unpredictability requires us to plan for worse conditions than before, using higher safety margins and designs that can handle loads beyond what historical data might suggest. It also means that decisions made today must account for conditions that could evolve over the next 25–30 years, making flexibility and adaptability a key part of the design.
How are design strategies and technical innovations evolving to address the increasing severity of these events, specifically to create more robust and resilient offshore substations?
Design strategies for offshore substations are evolving in complementary ways. This includes not only strengthening physical structures but also adopting a holistic view of all platform systems to embed inherent safety into the design itself, for example eliminating hazards rather than controlling them.
To improve structural resilience and system reliability, we are rethinking traditional approaches. One key strategy may be to spread the load across multiple smaller substations instead of relying on a single massive platform. This strategy not only minimises load and stress on the foundation, but also facilitates the adoption of cost-effective monopiles, leveraging economies of scale in turbine foundation manufacturing and installation. This has the benefit of increased system redundancy, ensuring that if one offshore substation is damaged, others continue supplying power. We successfully proposed this strategy to a UK wind developer, advising on a complete transmission solution built around multiple offshore substations.
Other strategies require additional safety and strength margins to be incorporated into both equipment and foundations, ensuring they can withstand conditions beyond normal expectations. The topside areas are enclosed to protect both equipment and people during extreme weather, and foundation designs are tailored to local seabed and soil conditions to maintain stability under challenging environmental loads.
At the same time, systems are becoming smarter. Digital sensors for structural and mechanical monitoring allow operators to track the health of the structure and anticipate potential issues before they become serious problems. Electrical systems are designed to reroute power if part of a substation goes offline, so the rest of the wind farm can continue generating electricity. Advanced electrical technologies, such as HVDC converter stations, further enhance power quality and help integrate offshore wind with weaker or distant grids.
How do these strategies contribute to the overall resilience and reliability of energy infrastructure?
These strategies are not limited to the Asia Pacific; they are globally relevant, strengthening energy systems against extreme conditions and operational risks. In practical terms, this means fewer risks of blackouts, safer working conditions, and less money lost to repairs or power outages. A substation that withstands a major storm or an earthquake with minimal or no damage becomes one of the most cost-effective assets in the network. Downtime, emergency interventions, and lost generation revenue can far outweigh the marginal additional construction costs. At the end of the day, the most expensive substation is the one that fails
Read about our offshore substation consulting services here
Want to know more?
Daniel Noermark Jensen
Offshore Substations Product Owner
+45 51 61 72 12
Tommy Flindt
Global Director, Offshore Wind Substations
+45 24 92 93 74
FEATURED PROJECTS
We are supporting Outer Dowsing Offshore Wind with a complete transmission system that will connect the wind turbines to the grid.
The second commercial scale offshore wind farm in the USA and New York State’s first ever wind farm will displace millions of tonnes of carbon emissions. Ramboll is designing and engineering the offshore substation topside to connect the wind farm to the grid.