Skip to main content

Member Case Study: 4C Offshore

September 1, 2025
Member Case Study: 4C Offshore

4C Offshore (part of TGS) is a global leader in market intelligence and consultancy for offshore renewable energy, particularly offshore wind and subsea power cables. Delivering data‑driven insights, comprehensive datasets, interactive tools, and expert support across the full lifecycle of offshore wind projects and submarine cable ventures to empower developers, investors, supply chains, and governments worldwide.

Offshore wind projects demand highly specialised spatial analysis that standard GIS software does not always provide out-of-the-box. To bridge this gap, custom GIS Plugin have been developed in ArcGIS that directly address the needs of offshore wind consultants, engineers, and analysts.

For example, in an offshore wind farm like Hornsea One, the world’s largest operational offshore wind farm, decision-makers would have needed to make quick, reliable answers to questions about turbine performance, energy yield, and site suitability when developing the project. The GIS Plugin delivers these insights through six key modules:

  • WindRose: Generates clear visualisations of prevailing wind direction and frequency, essential for turbine siting and wake effect assessment. We can either see an Average wind direction or we can break it down into Monthly Averages.
  • Windspeeds: Retrieves and plots average windspeeds at hub heights. For Hornsea One we have hub heights of around 113m so the height that we can recommend to look at would be 107m.
  • WindShear: Analyses how wind speeds change with height, providing a basis for extrapolating with real time wind conditions to different turbine designs.
  • PowerCurve: Connects turbine specifications with wind data to model output at varying wind speeds, bridging meteorological data with engineering performance.
  • AEP (Annual Energy Production): Calculates long-term energy yield, a critical metric for investment appraisal and financial modelling. With added features like comparing AEP of windfarms.
  • WaterDepths: Maps and classifies bathymetric conditions, helping identify suitable turbine foundation types and highlighting areas of construction challenge.

Each tool addresses a core aspect of offshore wind development. When combined, they provide a steam lined  workflow from characterising the wind resource to modelling turbine performance and assessing site conditions. Instead of running disconnected analyses or sourcing data manually, the GIS Plugin allows users to complete these steps rapidly and consistently inside GIS.

APIs further enhance this workflow by ensuring that the data feeding these tools is live and standardised. Whether it is updated climatological wind data, turbine specifications, or site conditions, APIs reduce manual processing and provide confidence that analyses reflect the latest information. This is particularly valuable in fast-moving projects like Hornsea One, where results need to be defensible and reproducible across large teams and stakeholders.

The result is not just speed, but reliability. By embedding offshore wind–specific tools in GIS, analysts can focus on interpretation and decision-making rather than repetitive data handling. For developers, regulators, and investors, this means faster insights, more transparent assumptions, and stronger confidence in outcomes.

As offshore wind scales up globally, the need for specialised GIS tools will only increase. GIS Plugin like these integrated with live data through APIs ensure that GIS remains central to delivering efficient, evidence-based decisions for projects like Hornsea One and beyond.

Find out more about 4C Offshore here

  • Windrose
  • Windshear
  • PowerCurve
  • 24X7

Get in touch

AREG is the original energy transition organisation, working on behalf of members to empower the energy supply chain and champion its expertise. Please get in touch if you have any questions or would like to find out more about membership.

Contact Us
“

AREG has played an important role in the growth of Scotland’s renewable energy sector, engaging the supply chain and developing the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre. However, we are only at the very beginning of the transition that AREG was established to both lead and support so there are still opportunities for companies to get into the constantly evolving renewables supply chain. We look forward to continuing our work together as renewables builds on its place as Scotland’s main source of power, and as we seek to deliver real change in the crucial areas of heat and transport.

Scottish Renewables
“

Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce has worked closely with AREG since its formation. The recent progress in the developments of offshore wind projects by Equinor and Vattenfall are as a result of the work of the group over many years. The north-east is known as the oil and gas capital of Europe. At the Chamber, we believe the region must evolve its position to being recognised as the energy capital. Whilst hydrocarbons will continue to be essential in driving our economy for years to come, the generation of renewable resources will play an increasingly important role in providing cost-effective power, innovative development and economic growth.

Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce
“

The enthusiasm and dedication of the early group that would become AREG was fundamental in us choosing to launch All-Energy in Aberdeen. The first tiny show was held in 2001, and AREG’s Chairman at the time, Jeremy Cresswell, played such an active role that I often describe him in terms such as All-Energy’s ‘midwife’. All-Energy is now the UK’s largest renewable and low carbon energy exhibition and conference in terms of number of attendees, space booked, and number of exhibiting companies. As AREG became firmly established, their presence and support for the event grew spectacularly over the years. We thank them most sincerely for their invaluable input.

All-Energy
“

Vattenfall has forged a strong working relationship with AREG through the development of the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre. AREG has worked tirelessly on behalf of the North East and it can take enormous credit for the growth of sustainable energy in the region and the path it has cleared for the region to capture further investment.

Vattenfall
“

Aberdeen City and Shire is emerging as a key location for renewables by successfully transferring its world-class oil and gas expertise into the sector and AREG has done much to advance this through a broad range of initiatives. It has acted as a catalyst in driving further investment in the local economy by engaging with companies, Government, public bodies and existing projects and we have been pleased to support their efforts. Scottish Enterprise will continue to engage with AREG as we increase Scotland’s use of renewable energy.

Scottish Enterprise