DNV Kicks Off JIP on Standards for Offshore Wind Concrete Floaters

December 4, 2023, by Adnan Memija

DNV has secured partners to launch a new project to enhance technology development and prepare for scale/industralisation of concrete substructures for floating offshore wind.

With the launch of a new joint industry project (JIP), called Concrete FLOW, DNV aims to optimise requirements for concrete floaters, specifically tailored for floating offshore wind farms.

The project encompasses concrete structures, geotechnics, and floating technologies.

At a recent kick-off meeting, 14 partners committed to redefining global standards for the production of concrete floaters in the offshore wind industry. The collaborative results are earmarked for incorporation into future DNV service documents.

“This initiative symbolizes a collaborative effort to set new standards and challenge existing ones, laying the groundwork for the future of floating wind. We have engaged with 30 companies to discuss this initiative…,” said Kim Sandgaard-Mørk, Executive Vice President for Renewables Certification at DNV.

DNV said that it sees concrete floaters as a cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative to steel floaters, particularly for larger wind turbine sizes.

The organisation added that refinements to design provisions should enhance material efficiency while maintaining the historically robust performance of offshore concrete structures.

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JIP’s primary objective is to enhance standard requirements, customizing them for industrial production to enable serial production, significantly reducing costs and streamlining the manufacturing process, said DNV.

“While the DNV-ST-0119 standard includes design provisions for concrete floaters, some requirements draw from oil and gas experience and others from bottom fixed wind farms; they need refinement and optimization to be used specifically for floating offshore wind developments”, said Stefan Baars, Renewables Certification Head of Section for Concrete Structures & Geotechnics at DNV.

“The project will select hot topics to investigate as work packages, so as to update and refine the concrete design provisions in DNV-ST-0119.”

The team expects to conduct activities over a period of one and a half to two years.