foundations
Innovative suction bucket jacket foundation deployed
The first example of a jacket-type foundation using suction buckets was recently installed in the North Sea, and more innovative foundations are due to be tested shortly
IN August 2014, an innovative foundation that could help cut the cost of energy from offshore windfarms was successfully deployed by Dong Energy as part of its collaboration with the Carbon Trust Offshore Wind Accelerator (OWA) programme.
The full-scale trial of the suction bucket jacket foundation is being conducted at the Borkum Riffgrund 1 offshore windfarm, 37km off the northwest coat of Germany and is the culmination of work to overcome one of the key challenges that will be faced by offshore windfarms of the future. As projects are built further from
shore in deeper water, they will need to be installed without exceeding strict regulatory requirements on underwater noise. The innovative suction bucket design, developed by Dong Energy, has been tailor made specifically to tackle these challenges. It consists of three legs welded together in a jacket structure standing on three giant suction buckets that anchor the foundation to the
seabed. The lightweight structure can be installed in a single operation, reducing the time it takes to complete installation, so helping to reduce the costs of electricity from offshore wind. Dong Energy’s target is to drive down the cost of electricity by 35–40 per cent for offshore windfarm projects sanctioned in 2020. Borkum Riffgrund 1 was selected for testing the foundation due to its sandy seabed, which makes the installation a challenge and provides a more solid case for the evaluation of the concept. A 3.6 megawatt (MW) turbine from Siemens Wind Power will be installed on top of the foundation in October this year. Tove Feld, vice president of Dong
Energy, described the installation of the first ever suction bucket jacket foundation as “a great day”. Tom Delay, chief executive of the Carbon Trust, said he believed that innovative foundation designs, such as the suction jacket technology, will play an important role in efforts to cut the cost
The foundations for the Luchterduinen windfarm use an integrated transition piece
of energy from offshore wind. “This foundation has been designed for serial fabrication and will save costs across design, fabrication and installation through to operation. Full- scale demonstrations are the last critical step before a new innovative design can be considered for commercial projects. We are very enthusiastic about this design and the impact it will have on the industry.”
The suction bucket jacket foundation is lifted onto the vessel Pacific Orca 46 I Offshore Wind Journal I 3rd Quarter 2014
The suction bucket jacket is equipped with a comprehensive monitoring system providing data. The OWA project partners, E.ON, Mainstream Renewable Power, Iberdrola/Scottish Power Renewables, Statkraft and Statoil, will have full insight into this data and also have full access to the fabrication and installation of the new foundation design. This will allow them to evaluate whether it should be used in the UK. The suction bucket jacket has a total height of 57m and weighs approximately 850 tonnes. Each suction bucket has a diameter of 8m and a total height of 8m. The foundation is suitable for use in water ranging in depth from 30m to 60m. Another of its advantages is that it can be transported and installed in a single lift. Separately, the OWA continues to work with Statoil, Statkraft, E.ON, Dong
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