BVG Associates has carried out an independent commercial review including cost comparison and levelized cost of energy (LCOE) analysis of the new offshore wind foundation concept known as the Gravity Tripod.
Offshore Wind Logistics and Construction (OWLC) appointed BVGA to do the analysis in order to show to potential investors the merits and commercial possibilities of the foundation design.
BVGA considered a commercial 500 MW offshore wind farm made up of 12 MW turbines and then compared the results to projects using monopile and jacket foundations at the same size and date.
According to the company, the concrete substructure has several advantages over conventional foundations, including that it has a low seabed bearing pressure, requiring less seabed preparation than other gravity type designs, and can also be assembled quickly and requires no piling for installation.
“We also performed an analysis considering a future project with FID 2025. We compared a farm using Gravity Tripods to a farm using jacket foundations, estimating the future costs and LCOE using learning rates derived from our in-house spatial LCOE model,” BVGA said.
The findings are summarized in a report that OWLC will use to show the concept to potential investors.