Promoted content: Why engineering compliance workflows are broken in renewable energy — and how to fix them

Offshore wind, solar, and hydrogen systems are at the forefront of this transition, but the scale and complexity of these projects present significant challenges. From permitting delays to fragmented compliance workflows, inefficiencies threaten the sector’s ability to meet its goals.

While permitting bottlenecks remain critical — potentially reducing global offshore wind installations by 30% this decade, according to the DNV Energy Transition Outlook 2023 — they are only part of the problem. Inflation, supply chain disruptions, and evolving regulatory standards add further strain. Fragmented systems and outdated workflows exacerbate delays and inflate costs, especially in offshore wind projects where timelines often exceed 10 years.

The technical demands of renewable energy projects also highlight a major bottleneck: compliance workflows. Engineers must navigate disconnected tools — switching between CAD models, finite element analysis (FEA) platforms, and manual reporting. This fragmented approach hampers efficiency and increases errors. For example, hydromechanical challenges in floating wind systems, including coupled wind-wave-current interactions, require precise workflows that traditional methods cannot deliver.