DNV has published the world’s first recommended practice to reduce earthquake challenges for wind power plants in emerging markets, such as Asia Pacific and the US.
The Recommended Practice DNV-RP-0585 ‘Seismic design of wind power plants’ aims to minimise cost, warranty and liability risks and optimise wind power plant design for seismic conditions.
It is a result of a global collaborative effort, which saw more than 20 wind industry leaders, including manufacturers, project developers, designers, and experts from Asia Pacific, Europe and North America respond to a joint industry project (JIP).
DNV said that as wind power grows in emerging markets markets “there’s an increasing need to ensure the design of wind turbines and other assets of a wind power plant such as the offshore substation can meet the challenging conditions seen in those regions”.
The company said that guidance and industry consensus was needed to ensure that wind power development continues to build momentum while maintaining high safety standards and minimising costs.
It added that the Alleviating Cyclone and Earthquake Challenges for Wind farms JIP has worked for 18 months to gather enough experiences from cross-industry players to align wind turbine design methodologies for those extreme environmental conditions.
The recommended practice can now be used as a technical reference for seismic design as part of the contract between industry stakeholders, DNV said.
“It can serve to link existing local requirements for seismic design of common buildings to international wind energy design practice and facilitate the designer’s work,” the company said.
DNV added that this will help accelerate discussions and project decisions.
DNV head of section for steel structures Marcus Klose said: “When DNV became involved in offshore wind farms in Taiwan in 2018, it was clear that earthquakes would be a potential design driver, in a way which had not been experienced in Europe, where offshore wind had its origins and where earthquakes were not a big issue.
“Projects in other regions, like the US, were suffering from the same uncertainty and DNV launched a Joint Industry Project to tackle this challenge.
“With the support of 20 partners, we’ve now been able to create a guideline that will bring more transparency and reduce uncertainty in the design of onshore and offshore wind turbines.”
Klose also initiated and successfully completed the project.