CONCRETE MARINE SOLUTIONS
Two for One A floating bargain!
Everyone loves a bargain and now a small Scottish company can offer the offshore wind industry game changing technical innovation designed to substantially reduce the cost of building offshore wind farms, essentially, a floating turbine within a floating foundation!
REDUCING COST
For many years CMS have argued that the only way to substantially reduce the cost of constructing offshore wind farms is to deliver and install complete units including the turbine, without using heavy lift ships/ jack-up barges.
In order to deliver complete units the turbine tower must be stowed within the foundation and raised to its working height on site. The ability to raise and lower the turbine by 60 / 80mts offers the wind industry the fundamental innovation it continually seeks. The simplicity of the operation and the subsequent additional benefits which can be introduced, have yet to be fully appreciated by the industry.
If fully adopted, the technical innovation incorporated in both DTI 50 and DTI 80F would directly improve the logistical complications of offshore construction, address scour protection, access from small craft, the interface between turbine tower and foundation, a novel method of installing the power cables and much more.
MODULAR FOUNDATION DESIGNS Furthermore, if we are to develop a UK supply chain, foundation designs
HISTORY AND DETAIL In 2009 Statoil installed its Hywind prototype floating turbine off the south coast of Norway and although the project was successful, it identified key issues to be addressed if the concept is to be commercially viable.
Hywind is essentially a spar buoy supporting a wind turbine and with a draft of around 100mts, only suitable for construction in deep Norwegian fjords and constrained by the draft during delivery, additionally, servicing floating turbines with the nacelle 120mts above sea level is a formidable challenge.
In July last year Statoil invited selected companies to participate in their Hywind Challenge, an invitation to submit ideas
designed to address three major problems, construction, delivery and maintenance.
A WAY FORWARD
Concrete Marine Solutions Ltd an Inverness based engineering consultancy having designed its own concrete gravity base foundation, DTI 50, immediately recognised the challenges facing Statoil and were quickly able to offer a way forward.
Working with QED Naval, an Edinburgh firm of naval architects, the new design DTI 80F incorporates the patented technology which makes DTI 50 unique, whilst retaining the design philosophy which underpins the Hywind concept.
must be modular, with components built nationally at ports with minimal facilities and delivered to dedicated assembly yards close to the proposed wind farm site.
Both DTI 50 and DTI 80F are specifically designed to substantially reduce construction, installation and maintenance costs, address at a fundamental level Health and Safety and improve risk management.
FURTHER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT CMS/QED Naval are confident further R&D will reduce the draft of DTI 80F to around 50mts, making it competitive for Round Three sites and seek fabricators, installers, investors, developers with vision, capable of developing this game changing technology to its full potential.
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www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
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