Ørsted and the University of Oxford have signed a five-year agreement to optimise the design of foundation structures of offshore wind turbines.
Under the framework agreement, the partnership will conduct research to further develop and implement new geotechnical design ideas.
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Concepts that seem promising will be developed based on well-defined engineering approaches.
“This exciting new phase of collaboration with Ørsted will put the next generation of offshore windfarms on more secure and cost-effective foundations.”
The teams will focus on cyclic loading, an important element of safe design for larger turbines that are embedded in deep waters. The advanced foundation designs are expected to cut capital costs of wind turbines.
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By GlobalDataØrsted’s research and development (R&D) head Christina Aabo said: “We’re excited about this agreement with the University of Oxford, a world-leading institution, which will help us better understand how we can optimise the design of wind turbine foundations.
“This partnership will enable us to further mature our foundation designs to support even bigger turbines in even deeper waters, lowering costs and risk level at the same time.”
The University of Oxford’s engineering science professor Byron Byrne said: “This exciting new phase of collaboration with Ørsted will put the next generation of offshore windfarms on more secure and cost-effective foundations through robust design methods for cyclic loading.
“This will be challenging, but essential if the cost of offshore wind energy is to be further reduced.”
Ørsted has been working with several universities to improve turbine performance. It has a collaboration with Durham University to design wind turbine nacelles, blades and towers.
In the last ten years, Ørsted has worked on several projects with the University of Oxford. Their teams have recently completed Pile Soil Analysis project, which in turn led to further improvements in the design of offshore wind foundations.
