The Offshore Wind Accelerator is a collaboration between the Carbon Trust and five leading international offshore wind developers. Together we’re working on the most innovative, cost effective and robust turbine foundation designs for for deeper water conditions. Our competition attracted more than 100 entries from all over the World, from leading civil engineers and naval architects to marine experts in the oil and gas industry. Seven designs have been short-listed, all of which have the potential to deliver a step-change in cost reduction. The OWA has invested up to £100k in each concept to allow the designers to develop their concepts. The winning ideas will be demonstrated at full-scale by the OWA Partners.
The programme will:
- Find new foundation designs for the challenging conditions that will be encountered in Round 3: water depths of 30-60m, complex soils, and harsher metocean conditions
- Demonstrate that by optimising designs to consider manufacturing, transportation, installation, maintenance and decommissioning, the total cost of foundations can be reduced by as much as 30%
Two-stage programme
Phase 1 Feasibility:
The current stage – focusing on identifying innovative concepts that have potential to reduce the cost of energy – will complete in Spring 2010. The successful shortlisted designs are receiving consultancy support to move their concept forward.
Phase 2: Large-scale Demonstration
This starts in spring 2010. The Carbon Trust and its partners select one or more of the most promising foundation designs and take them to large-scale demonstration. This multi-year phase could include as much as £20 million of Offshore Wind Accelerator investment.
Potential for business growth
There is clear market potential for winning concepts. It’s estimated that by 2020 up to 15,000 new foundations will be needed in a global market worth up to £2.5bn a year. Our research shows the UK could be getting a quarter of its energy from offshore wind power by 2020. It could create 70,000 new jobs, reduce carbon emissions by 7% and generate revenues of up to £8bn every year for the UK alone.
The competition closed on 15th June 2009