Fast Market Research recommends “Monopile Foundation: Dominance in Offshore Wind Foundation Industry” from GlobalData, now available in its offering.
The global offshore wind power industry has grown rapidly in recent years. Countries looking to increase their dependency on wind energy are increasingly looking to offshore wind projects due to high capacity factors and high wind speeds.
On the other hand, the increased distance from the shore also increases the water depth, rendering construction cumbersome in terms of factors such as foundation size, seabed piling, grouting, amount of raw material required, physical properties, and tensile strength.
The industry for offshore wind foundations is growing rapidly with a number of technologies and designs in the market. There are two fundamental types of technology available: fixed-bottom foundations, and floating foundations. The majority of attention is on the former. Most offshore wind farms constructed to date are close to the shore in water of around 20 meters (m) in depth, for which monopile foundations are preferred.
Monopile foundations are most commonly used and account for 4.5 Gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind capacity. However, as the offshore wind industry moves into deeper water, monopile foundations are expected to be partially replaced by jacket, tripod, and floating foundations. Floating foundations are gaining importance as they can operate in the depths of 100-500m.
[mappress]
Press release, September 6, 2013; Image: seacore