far is, “yes.”
The benefts are highlight-
ed when using a bucket foun-
dation interface — or suction
caisson, an anchor system
for the turbine that resem-
bles an overturned bucket
that is placed in the seabed.
Water is suctioned out of the
bucket to decrease the pressure and sink the bucket into
the seabed.
According to Møller, there
is an overall beneft to having
the heavy foundation on top
of the bucket so it can start
the suction process.
In designing the hybrid
foundation, Siemens looked at
the price of steel and concrete.
“There aren’t that many
different jacket systems for
offshore wind turbines yet —
although we expect that will
increase — but if you compare the cost for one of these
relatively complex steel transition pieces (TP) with the
cost of the concrete TP that
we have designed so far, we
see that the concrete TP is
roughly half the price of a
steel TP, even at realistically
low steel prices,” Møller said.
The fndings of that cost-comparison were “an eye
opener,” he said.
Siemens’ goal is to reduce
the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for offshore wind
projects within the six years
from 2014 to 2020 by 35
Ofshore Wind of the North Sea Countries
The North Sea is one of the most active offshore wind power
development regions in the world, and it could become even more
active. This year, the nine North Sea countries signed a declaration
that seeks to facilitate further cost-effective deployment of offshore
renewable energy — specifcally wind. Here’s a look at the status of
fve offshore wind projects in the North Sea.
Veja Mate
Capacity: 402 MW
Turbines: Siemens 6 MW
Status: Under Construction (April 2016)
Developer: Highland Group Holdings Ltd.
Scheduled Completion: 2017
Hornsea II
Capacity: 1. 8 GW
Turbines: Undetermined
Status: Government Consent Granted (August 2016)
Developer: DONG Energy
Scheduled Completion: 2020
Vesterhav Syd — Vesterhav Nord
Capacity: 350 MW (180 MW/170 MW)
Turbines: Undetermined
Status: Government Consent Granted (September 2016)
Developer: Vattenfall AB
Scheduled Completion: 2020
Deutsche Bucht
Capacity: 252 MW
Turbines: Vestas 8 MW
Status: Turbine Supplier Selected (September 2016)
Developer: Highland Group Holdings Ltd.
Scheduled Completion: 2020
Rentel
Capacity: 309 MW
Turbines: Siemens 7 MW
Status: Financial Close Reached (October 2016)
Developer: Consortium of Stakeholders
Scheduled Completion: 2018.