A Texas A&M team has developed a concept that could decrease the cost and time it takes to install offshore wind turbines.
Wind turbines are a renewable energy resource of the future, but installing these enormous turbines in offshore ocean environments is becoming increasingly costly and labor-intensive. As society becomes more dependent on renewable energy resources, the development of improved installation processes is required.A team of Texas A&M University researchers have theorized a way to transport and install a 15-megawatt wind turbine in offshore environments using vibratory hammers. Funded by the National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium, they will research the practicality and intricacies of taking this idea from theory to reality.
“15-megawatt wind turbines are the future, and as the wind turbine size increases, it is more effective and energy-efficient,” said Moo-Hyun Kim, professor in the Department of Ocean Engineering and co-principal investigator on the project. “In the United States, we have never installed a gravity-based wind turbine of this size, and this may be a pioneering attempt to make this feasible.”
Currently, the most effective method for building and mounting turbines into the seabed uses a monopile foundation driven deeply into the seabed with large impact hammers. The drastic increase in the size of wind turbines (from about five megawatts to 15 megawatts) has created an issue with pile driving, requiring massive piles extending to depths of 70 meters or more for insertion of the turbine foundation.
The team has proposed a new way to insert wind turbines into the seabed through the use of vibratory hammers capable of quickly puncturing and temporarily loosening the seabed, to install a so-called bucket foundation. Although these hammers have been used for installing bucket foundations in other near-shore contexts, this will be the first time they will be used in an offshore application.
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