Why MonoBase Wind
Caring for the environment and providing sustainable solutions for the energy needs of the future generation should be the main goals for anyone working in the offshore wind. Our solution helps to provide a solid foundation for the next generation offshore wind fields which will help to achieve these goals.
The MonobaseWind gravity base foundation is engineered to allow for assembly of the foundation, tower and turbine inshore which will minimize the offshore work. This will reduce the exposure of the delicate marine environment to the industrial work required to build an offshore wind farm. The concept does not need any hammering of piles and requires only a minimal offshore vessel spread keeping the disturbance to acceptable levels.
The design of the foundation also considers the period after the technical or economical life of the wind turbine. Various options are available which can be included pending the local circumstances and environmental requirements.
An installed concrete gravity base structure forms an artificial reef which supports biodiversity as proven on many other artificial reefs. The outside of the concrete structure can be made ecological friendly such that oysters or corrals can attach and enhance the marine life.
We support initiatives to bring back the disappeared marine life due to human activity along the coasts of many countries around the world.
Hammering of large piles is not required for this concept. All other marine operations required to transport and install the Gravity Base have minimum environmental impact. The operations required to prepare the seabed and to install the foundations are of short duration and have minimum disturbing effect on sea life.
Low carbon footprint across the supply chain as a result of using concrete instead of steel, (ref.: Carbon Trust 2015).
Longevity of a GBS is high due to concrete being an extremely durable material in the marine environment:
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Reduced maintenance is required and solutions with low sensitivity to fatigue.
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Exploit the fact that OpEx cost could be significantly reduced, lowering the overall LCOE.
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There is potential to extend lifespan of GBF for repowering scenarios (lasting 100 years) without major investments.
Fabrication of the MonobaseWind is comparable to the construction of tunnel segments and bridge pylons and bears little risk of cost overrun and construction errors due to the vast experience with this type of marine concrete structures.
Transport and installation has been optimised to reduce risks and minimise exposure to the harsh North Sea environment based on the lessons learned by offshore marine contractors working for the Oil & Gas Offshore industry.
Construction of the GBFs can be done at local yards and docks using local labour and engineering capacity. Also the supply of steel and concrete can be organised locally which further increases the local content.
GBFs are particularly cost effective in deeper waters(beyond 40m) and larger WTGs, (ref.: Carbon Trust 2015). Cost of the foundations do not escalate when scaling up to large waterdepth and larger WTGs by nature of the design of the self floating Gravity base. As an example for the MonobaseWind a doubling of the WTG power would increase the costs of the installed foundation with only about 20% to 30%.
The assembly and commissioning of the wind turbine will be performed inshore. At the inshore location a temporary electrical connection can be provided to commission all wind turbine systems. This will safe a lot of expensive and weather sensitive offshore work. Direct costs savings can be contributed to lower personnel costs, higher productivity and less transportation costs of personnel. Indirect costs savings can be achieved by reducing the time to first power.
