Bristol-based Rovco is a leading provider of energy industry subsea robotics and hydrographic services using AI and Live 3D technology.

Its sister company, Vaarst was launched just last year to revolutionise the future of marine robotics by leveraging intelligent data flows for smart asset management and creating an energy-efficient and more sustainable future.

The leading South West scaleup has seen huge success in recent years, including completion of a £15.2m Series B funding round earlier this year. Now, for the third year running, Rovco, has been awarded a contract to carry out work on the Beatrice offshore wind farm.

Located in the Outer Moray Firth, Beatrice is Scotland’s second largest operational offshore wind farm.

Commencing this month, the project will be delivered by Rovco’s UK-based team, and will involve survey work on all inter array cable and subsea jacket locations across Beatrice. The survey work provides a focused approach to the monitoring and reporting of asset and critical infrastructure conditions year-on-year, delivering vital insights that enable the planning of potential preventative maintenance and remedial works.

Operated by Rovco’s highly experienced team, the project will utilise the Glomar Worker DPII vessel, equipped as standard with a Work-class ROV, SubSLAM X2 and associated survey tooling suite, along with PanGeo Subsea’s 3D Sub-Bottom Imager™ to perform cable depth of burial assessments. The delivery of the project, managed from Rovco’s operational base in Scotland, will support further full-time employment opportunities across the local region.

World-leading technology

Having now worked on over 50% of operational wind farms in UK waters, remaining incumbent at Beatrice strengthens Rovco’s continued expansion.

On this consolidation of growth Simon Miller, Managing Director for Rovco, tells us, “We are thrilled to have been awarded the year three scope of work for Beatrice Offshore Wind Farm Ltd, under this prestigious framework agreement.

“The team at Beatrice are early adopters of technology that helps drive efficiencies and smarter ways of collating and presenting valuable data. Delivering the highest quality insight available on the market, we ensure that the Beatrice team have the necessary information to fully inform their ongoing operations and maintenance planning and decision making.

“Crucially, our offshore setup and technology selection enables us to operate whilst the wind farm is still operational and producing energy. In addition to our own team of experts, we are pleased to be leveraging local supply chain partners and talent, ensuring the successful, safe and timely completion of the work on Beatrice.”

Matthew Henderson, Subsea & Structural Engineering Manager of Beatrice Offshore Wind Farm, adds, “We are delighted to have Rovco back on site again to continue their long-running relationship with the Beatrice Wind Farm. Rovco consistently provide high quality data which allows for our teams to gain a detailed insight into long term integrity management requirements, enabling us to optimise through-life operational costs. Alongside Rovco’s approach to innovation, their safety culture continues to align with our core values – with complex works completed efficiently and with a strong safety focus.”

Founded in 2015, Rovco is pushing the boundaries to change the way subsea work is performed. Providing the highest quality data insight to the marine renewable and wider energy sectors, the company has the resources and expertise to deliver challenging projects across the world. You can learn more about Rovco and its ventures here.