Research project to extend application of bottom-fixed wind turbines
ABL Group and Dr. Agathoklis Giaralis, through an Industrial Research Fellowship from the Royal Academy of Engineering, will cooperate on a research project to extend the application of bottom-fixed offshore wind turbines to deeper waters with higher wind energy generation potential.
“Currently, the application of the very mature bottom-fixed offshore wind turbines is limited to 60-70 metres water depth, as the required dimensions and the self-weight of offshore wind turbine supporting structures to safely resist dynamic loads due to wind and wave loads, become uneconomical for deeper waters installation. Yet, it is known that the offshore wind energy generation potential increases further offshore, in deeper waters.”
Dr. Agathoklis Giaralis, who is Associate Professor (Reader) in Structural Dynamics at City, University of London.
The project will therefore pursue a step-change in the current design of bottom-fixed offshore wind turbines, with a view to extend their range of applicability to deeper waters and to reduce costs in turbines in conventional water depths (≤60metres).
This will be achieved by developing a novel integrated optimisation-driven design protocol for bottom-fixed offshore wind turbines, in which the foundation and the turbine tower are sized for minimum weight together with the optimal tuning of dynamic vibration absorbers, for minimising wind/wave loads to the substructure and the turbine.
Dr. Giaralis will be seconded into ABL Group to work on the research project. Tim Camp, ABL Group’s director of turbine engineering, will be project responsible from ABL Group’s side.
There are multiple ABL Group companies that support the offshore wind industry, including ABL, OWC, INNOSEA, Longitude Engineering and Add Energy.
“The industrial fellowships from the Royal Academy of Engineering are highly prestigious. They are only awarded to projects that address significant societal challenges. Extending the operational envelope of bottom-fixed turbines can be a cost-efficient way of both driving further growth of offshore wind and the required global energy transition,” says Dr. R. V. Ahilan, chief energy transition officer at ABL Group.
ABL Group ASA is listed on the Oslo stock exchange and headquartered in London, UK.
ABL Group supports all segments of the offshore wind market, supporting clients in the delivery of offshore wind projects at every stage of a project or asset’s lifecycle. Discover more: