An Orsted-led research project has concluded monopile foundations do not need to be as long as previously thought.
The so-called Pile Soil Analysis Project, dubbed ‘PISA’, has found shorter tubulars can withstand the forces wind exerts against the turbine blades.
Orsted R&D project manager Jesper Skov Gretlund said the findings were already informing the design of foundations at future offshore wind farms.
“It is one of the many initiatives that are helping to realise our ambition of making green energy cheaper,” he added.
The project is a collaboration between Orsted, SSE, Statoil, Innogy, Statkraft, Iberdrola, Vattenfall, Alstom, Van Oord, EDF and Eon as well as research teams from University of Oxford, Imperial College London and University College Dublin.
The team’s findings come after investigations carried out at a test facility in Dunkirk, France.
The research project has also scooped the 2017 The British Geotechnical Association’s Fleming award for 2017.
Image: reNews
