EXHIBITIONS
Tube 2016: FA 07 Monopiles – gigantic pipes for offshore wind farms
on two non-renewable resources: oil and gas. Yet pipes are equally indispensable for renewable energies. One particularly visible application
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is that of wind power in the form of wind turbine towers, built mostly in steel or concrete. What tends to be less conspicuous at an offshore wind farm is the facilities that can be found below the water level, where steel pipes or steel pipe structures are mainly used as foundations for the power generators that are visible high above the water.
14 IMT June 2016
he energy sector is the biggest global market for manufacturers of steel pipes, with the main focus
After 2014, which had already
been a record year in the German wind power sector, 2015 was yet another year with record figures. In 2014, 141 new turbines had been built, and offshore output had already doubled compared with 2013. But in 2015 the overall total increased further even further. In all, 546 offshore wind turbines were connected to the German grid, with a total output of 2,282.4 megawatts (MW). According to Deutsche WindGuard in its “Offshore Wind Power Expansion Status in Germany”, 792 offshore wind turbines were contributing power to the German grid at the end of December 2015, totalling 3,294.9
MW (2014:1,012.5 MW). The energy sector had anticipated such record figures, due to quite a backlog of turbines, built earlier in 2015, yet without being connected straightaway. Although further growth is expected for 2016, we are unlikely to see even more records this year. This is because, at the end of 2015, another 41 turbines were completed, with an output of 246 MW, and these are now waiting to be connected to the grid. Also, 122 foundations have so far been set up for the installation of new offshore wind turbines. The sector is expecting roughly another 700 MW in 2016.
www.internationalmetaltube.com
According to AG Energiebilanzen, about 8.2 TW hours of electric power were produced offshore in 2015. This covered the electricity demand of over 2 million households or 1.4 per cent of Germany’s gross power supply. So although offshore wind power has the smallest share in Germany’s power production (with the onshore volume being nearly 10 times as high), this sector is nevertheless an attractive one for the steel pipe industry, and indeed not just because of its good prospects for the future. After all, an offshore wind turbine requires considerably more crude steel than facilities on land.
Photo: Istock©MR1805
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