AWESOME network aims to educate eleven young researchers in the wind power operation and maintenance (O&M) field by constructing a sustainable training network gathering the whole innovation value chain. The main EU actors in the field of wind O&M have worked together, under the umbrella of the European Wind Energy Academy (EAWE), in order to design a training program coping with the principal R&D challenges related to wind O&M while tackling the shortage of highly-skilled professionals on this area that has been foreseen by the European Commission, the wind energy industrial sector and the academia. The overall AWESOME research programme tackles the main research challenges in the wind O&M field identified by the European wind academic and industrial community: (1) to develop better O&M planning methodologies of wind farms for maximizing its revenue, (2) to optimise the maintenance of wind turbines by prognosis of component failures and (3) to develop new and better cost-effective strategies for Wind Energy O&M. These main goals have been divided into eleven specific objectives, which will be assigned to the fellows, for them to focus their R&D project, PhD Thesis and professional career. The established training plan answers the challenges identified by the SET Plan Education Roadmap. Personal Development Career Plans will be tuned up for every fellow, being their accomplishment controlled by a Personal Supervisory Team. The training plan includes intra-network activities, as well as network-wide initiatives. The secondments at partner organizations and between beneficiaries are a key attribute of the training programme. Each fellow will be exposed to three different research environments from both, academic and industrial spheres. All the network activities will be developed in accordance with the established in the Ethical Codes and Standards for research careers development, looking therefore for talent, excellence and opportunity equality.

The focus of the project will be on floating wind turbines installed at water depths from 50m to about 200m. The consortium partners have chosen to focus on large wind turbines (in the region of 10MW), which are seen as the most effective way of reducing the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE). The objective of the proposed project is two-fold: 1. Optimize and qualify, to a TRL5 level, two (2) substructure concepts for 10MW turbines. The chosen concepts will be taken from an existing list of four (4) TRL>4 candidates currently supporting turbines in the region of 5MW. The selection of the two concepts will be made based on technical, economical, and industrial criteria. An existing reference 10MW wind turbine design will be used throughout the project. 2. More generally, develop a streamlined and KPI-based methodology for the design and qualification process, focusing on technical, economical, and industrial aspects. This methodology will be supported by existing numerical tools, and targeted development and experimental work. It is expected that resulting guidelines/recommended practices will facilitate innovation and competition in the industry, reduce risks, and indirectly this time, contribute to a lower LCOE. End users for the project deliverables will be developers, designers and manufacturers, but also decision makers who need to evaluate a concept based on given constraints. The proposed project is expected to have a broad impact since it is not led by single group of existing business partners, focusing on one concept only. On the contrary, it will involve a strong consortium reflecting the value chain for offshore wind turbines: researchers, designers, classification societies, manufacturers, utilities. This will ensure that the project's outcomes suit the concrete requirements imposed by end-users.