Costain, in joint venture with HOCHTIEF and Arup, has received funding from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Technology Strategy Board’s (TSB) Offshore Wind Components Technologies Scheme to carry out research on the design and construction of concrete gravity foundations for large offshore wind turbines.
The wholly-owned joint venture company, GRAVITAS Offshore Ltd, has secured a £556,250 grant to demonstrate the benefits of the foundation technique. Concrete gravity foundations are expected to play a key part in delivering the next round in wind farm developments.
The ongoing work is designed to help demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of this approach against foundation technologies adopted for offshore wind systems in the UK. The GRAVITAS project will also help to develop reliable standards for concrete offshore wind foundations.
Greg Barker, the Energy and Climate Change Minister , said: “This investment from DECC will help GRAVITAS Offshore Ltd develop and demonstrate the benefits of its innovative turbine foundation design, cutting costs for offshore wind and helping it enter the growing green market place.”
GRAVITAS Offshore has also reached an advanced stage to commit to the construction of a demonstrator foundation for deployment in UK waters within the next two years.
That means GRAVITAS Offshore can further engage with the supply chain to optimise construction and implementation and by doing so reinforce the cost-effectiveness and deliverability of UK offshore wind energy.
“The endorsement of our solution by DECC is an excellent result for the team as offshore wind is a cornerstone of the UK energy market reform. The UK renewable energy roadmap indicates a central range of up to 18GW for the deployment of offshore wind by 2020 and our solution will be instrumental in meeting these aspirations,” said Colin Duff, Costain’s Director of Renewables.
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Press release, September 21, 2012; Image: Costain