BSH Approves Suction Bucket at Borkum Riffgrund 1

The German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) has approved the suction bucket jacket foundation, which is installed without noisy pile driving.

“We were particularly pleased with this foundation,” stated the President of BSH Monika Breuch-Moritz. “It shows that the authorities, academia and industry are continuously looking for solutions that strike a balance between protection and use of the seas.”

The innovative suction bucket jacket foundation will be installed in the Borkum Riffgrund 1 ​​offshore wind farm site, about 40 km from the island of Borkum in the North Sea. In offshore wind foundations installation, the pile driving is rather sound-intensive. The innovative suction bucket method protects marine mammals in the vicinity of construction sites. In addition, the installation itself is cheaper.

Dong Energy, the manufacturer of the foundation, will perform extensive investigations and measurements during the construction and operational phases, together with the Leibniz University of Hannover and the German Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing.

The results are important for the future use of foundations and will be included in further approval procedure.