MET MASTS
FEATURE SPONSOR
MINIMISING MET MAST COSTS Met Masts for offshore windfarms are difficult to install in a short timeframe
Also, their cost can be prohibitive for windfarm developers who are typically unfunded at this early stage of setting up a windfarm. Availability of installation vessels and off-the- shelf products are two of the major obstacles facing developers.
The current interest in floating lidar systems belies the issues they face. Their vulnerability to damage from passing vessels due to their low profile close to the sea means a potential loss of the buoy and expensive lidar system and a critical break in the wind data collection campaign. Also, the collected wind data requires compensation to correct it for the motion.
LOW COST NON-FLOATING SOLUTION Ocean Energy and Resource have developed a low cost non-floating solution that provides a low cost, simple and secure installation in up to 50m water depth. To minimise cost they have eliminated the need for large offshore crane vessels and instead make use of smaller tugs and the simple use of buoyancy to help the installation. This also means the met mast design must be adapted to make it buoyant so it can be towed to site by an ocean-going tug. So how can a
steel tube and mast become a floating vessel?
The innovative registered design, Sea Met (RD), meets all these requirements. A floating gravity base with a horizontal sealed steel tower containing a telescopic mast or, if preferred, a larger working platform for the Lidar also rotated for transport, is towed to site using a tug.
INSTALLATION
Once on site, the gravity base is ballasted onto the seabed using seawater and the tower is rotated using buoyancy aids to almost
vertical. Then the tethers are tightened to completely raise the tower to vertical and the working platform is rotated to horizontal.
If a mast is installed, this is raised section by section and the anemometers and other measurement equipment fitted as it is raised. For a Lidar based system, the Lidar is simply lifted onto the working platform and powered up. A reference mast can be installed easily.
Ocean Energy and Resource Ltd
Evolution of 3.5 MW - Platform Upgrade to the next generation
With its new upgrade the machine will perform at a higher capacity and supply a higher yield.
www.eno-energy.com
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www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
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