Design of Monopile Foundations for Large Offshore Windturbines - Experiences from the First Projects Offshore the British Coast

摘要

Recent wind farm development has shown a shift towards choosing large windturbine sites well away from habited areas. Offshore sites are becoming increasingly used. The placement of windturbines in harsh offshore environments is an engineering challenge, which requires development of suitable foundation designs as well as dedicated installation methods in order to overcome the access restrictions. This paper describes the development of offshore monopile foundations for the first three major British offshore sites for large wind turbines in the 2 MW class: Blyth (2 foundations), North Hoyle (30 foundations) and Scroby Sands (30 foundations). The paper includes a discussion and evaluation of design and installation of the foundations. Installation tolerances for main components, which are installed separately offshore: pile, transition section, sea access arrangement, J-tubes and access platform are discussed. Seabed scour protection solutions are briefly described.