German Next-Gen Floating Foundation Gets EUR 1 Million

ESG Edelstahl und Umwelttechnik Stralsund GmbH, a member of German GICON Group, and the Endowed Chair of Wind Energy Technology at the University of Rostock have secured EUR 1 million for the development and full-scale testing of a sub-structure for third generation wind turbines with a capacity of 6MW or more.

The funds for the development of the foundation from reinforced concrete composite components have been awarded by the German State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania) in April.

The kick-off meeting for the new cooperative research project with the partners ESG GmbH and the University of Rostock took place in Stralsund on 26 April 2016, when nine engineers and three technicians discussed the technical aspects of the project and determined the next steps.

The scientific and technical objective of the funded project is the development of a novel support structure manufactured with components which demonstrate high loading capacity but are simultaneously durable and lightweight. Likewise, reinforced concrete or lightweight concrete components are to be developed, which pre-load the substructure.

In order to materialize the structure, it is necessary to develop the structure using a composite made of concrete or fiber concrete and steel or fiber-reinforced concrete.

ESG GmbH is implementing the basic outline based on the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) standard design for wind turbines. The aero-servo-hydro-elastically coupled simulation, including the preliminary design, falls within the scope of the Endowed Chair of Wind Energy Technology at the University of Rostock.

The focus of the work is both the local development of the offshore wind industry with their associated supply chain in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the establishment of a “Made in MV” product for the international market, GICON Group explained.