Securing Australian floating wind developments with helical anchors. This project will reduce the cost of offshore floating wind energy by uniting leading academic expertise and innovative industry partners to develop the knowledge and practical tools that will enable the deployment of helical anchors as a cheap and reliable anchoring system for floating wind. Helical anchors are seen as the most promising solution to anchor wind turbines, but their deployment has been limited by uncertainties a ....Securing Australian floating wind developments with helical anchors. This project will reduce the cost of offshore floating wind energy by uniting leading academic expertise and innovative industry partners to develop the knowledge and practical tools that will enable the deployment of helical anchors as a cheap and reliable anchoring system for floating wind. Helical anchors are seen as the most promising solution to anchor wind turbines, but their deployment has been limited by uncertainties associated with the torque and vertical force required for installation in complex seabeds, and their performance under environmental loading. The project will address these specific points through a combination of physical, numerical and analytical modelling, using data and design scenarios provided by industry.
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Reducing geotechnical design conservatism to secure floating wind energy. The next frontier for offshore wind energy is moving further out to sea to avail of stronger and more consistent wind speeds. In these water depths, wind turbines are installed on floaters tethered to anchors in the seabed. Geotechnical design of anchors is inherently conservative, having been shaped by technical and economic considerations of oil and gas facilities. The offshore wind energy industry cannot afford to adopt ....Reducing geotechnical design conservatism to secure floating wind energy. The next frontier for offshore wind energy is moving further out to sea to avail of stronger and more consistent wind speeds. In these water depths, wind turbines are installed on floaters tethered to anchors in the seabed. Geotechnical design of anchors is inherently conservative, having been shaped by technical and economic considerations of oil and gas facilities. The offshore wind energy industry cannot afford to adopt such conservatism if floating wind is to become commercially viable. This project will, through numerical developments, geotechnical centrifuge modelling and field testing, develop the science that will lead to a reliability-based geotechnical design approach to make floating offshore wind energy economic and viable.Read moreRead less
Unlocking new generation physical modelling with realistic soil response. This project will improve the safety and efficiency of geo-structures associated with offshore wind developments by better characterising and replicating the behaviour of carbonate sediments. Novel characterisation techniques will be used to better understand the links between the chemical and structural composition of the sediments and their engineering properties relevant to geotechnical design, and how to better replica ....Unlocking new generation physical modelling with realistic soil response. This project will improve the safety and efficiency of geo-structures associated with offshore wind developments by better characterising and replicating the behaviour of carbonate sediments. Novel characterisation techniques will be used to better understand the links between the chemical and structural composition of the sediments and their engineering properties relevant to geotechnical design, and how to better replicate carbonate sediment behaviour in a laboratory – an outcome that has eluded researchers for decades. The main outcomes of the project will be the development of soil sample reconstitution techniques enabling high-fidelity physical modelling to be undertaken to assist in the design offshore wind turbine foundations.Read moreRead less
Foundations for offshore wind turbines in Australian carbonate seabed soils. This projects aims to enable performance prediction of foundations for offshore wind turbines in the challenging carbonate sandy sediments which are prevalent offshore Australia. This is significant for an emerging industry with each project costing tens of billions of dollars and foundations accounting for a quarter of the development cost. This project expects to provide guidance for these complex different soil condi ....Foundations for offshore wind turbines in Australian carbonate seabed soils. This projects aims to enable performance prediction of foundations for offshore wind turbines in the challenging carbonate sandy sediments which are prevalent offshore Australia. This is significant for an emerging industry with each project costing tens of billions of dollars and foundations accounting for a quarter of the development cost. This project expects to provide guidance for these complex different soil conditions that is based on advanced understanding obtained from innovative experimental and numerical techniques. Expected outcomes include de-risking through significantly reduced uncertainties. This research should therefore lead to significant economic and societal benefits of affordable clean energy and generation of jobs.Read moreRead less
New Silent Anchors for Floating Offshore Wind Turbines in Calcareous Sand . Reliable wind energy sites are in deeper waters and require offshore floating structures to harness the wind energy. Such floating structures require a reliable anchoring system that is secure and environmentally friendly. Calcareous sands, rich in carbonate content, pose unique challenges with their behaviour difficult to predict. In this project, a novel silent anchoring system is investigated that can be installed wit ....New Silent Anchors for Floating Offshore Wind Turbines in Calcareous Sand . Reliable wind energy sites are in deeper waters and require offshore floating structures to harness the wind energy. Such floating structures require a reliable anchoring system that is secure and environmentally friendly. Calcareous sands, rich in carbonate content, pose unique challenges with their behaviour difficult to predict. In this project, a novel silent anchoring system is investigated that can be installed with minimum noise and vibration compared to more traditional counterparts. Through the state of the art development in numerical modelling and centrifuge modelling, this project will advance Australian Science and Practice in designing floating wind turbines in carbonate rich soils offshore and help energy transition.Read moreRead less