Brunel Floating AS, a Fred. Olsen 1848 company, has appointed Ramboll to initiate the design scope to accelerate the technological maturity of the BRUNEL floating foundation towards commercial application.
BRUNEL is a semi-submersible steel foundation with a modular design of tubulars that can tap into the existing global supply chain, and is said to be ideal for serial production and enabling a high deployment rate. BRUNEL is also said to offer a cost efficient and flexible O&M solution for on-site main component exchange.
Ramboll’s design scope of work for BRUNEL covers fabrication development, design of steel structures and mooring system, logistics, transportation, installation, as well as operation and maintenance procedures.
Denis Matha , Global Head of Floating Wind, Ramboll, said: ”It is with great excitement we announce that, Fred. Olsen 1848 has trusted Ramboll with this task. As one of the few truly independent consultants in the floating wind industry we work towards a sustainable future and are thus very pleased having been selected to support the next design phase of the BRUNEL floating foundation and apply our engineering know-how and expertise in this exciting project.”
The floating foundation design will be prepared with preliminary input data for the final design, which will ease the process for the site-specific certification and implementation. The completion is planned for the first half of 2024, and BRUNEL is expected to enter the project-specific design stage thereafter.
The process will be carried out according to DNV’s certification scheme for floating wind turbines (DNV-SE-0422). A close cooperation with DNV and their strong subject matter expertise is important to solve the most challenging aspects of designing a floating wind turbine foundation, Fred. Olsen 1848 said.
”The floating wind industry is evolving at a high pace, and to realise its potential strong collaborations between industry players is a necessity. We are therefore very pleased to announce the appointment of Ramboll as an independent engineering consultant to support us in taking BRUNEL forward for commercial scale projects. Ramboll’s solid track record in combination with the planned model testing at SINTEF Ocean will mature BRUNEL in the pace needed and provide bankability of the industrialized technology,” Esben Strandgaard Kyndesen , Chief Commercial Officer, Fred. Olsen 1848, said.