Integrated Implementation of Industrial Innovations for Offshore Wind Cost Reduction

Project Information

i4Offshore

Grant agreement ID: 818153

DOI

10.3030/818153

Project terminated on 6 November 2020

EC signature date 2 October 2018

Start date 1 November 2018

End date 31 October 2023

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Secure, clean and efficient energy

Total cost

€ 27 122 345,18

EU contribution

€ 19 877 916,26

Coordinated by

SIEMENS GAMESA RENEWABLE ENERGY AS
Denmark

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - i4Offshore (Integrated Implementation of Industrial Innovations for Offshore Wind Cost Reduction)

Reporting period: 2020-05-01 to 2021-04-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The i4Offshore project was intending to demonstrate the break-down of cost-barriers of large-scale offshore wind farm developments as the intention was, during the project, to install and operate an innovative offshore system solution featuring a Siemens Gamesa next-generation direct drive wind turbine, a hybrid-material gravity jacket foundation optimized for low-cost manufacturing, and a new low-cost array cable-in-pipe solution as a full-size demonstrator at a commercial site.

The project was also intending to become more than just a technology demonstration as the project would also have combined the technological advances with deep and targeted study of holistic concepts for leaner manufacturing, onshore and offshore transport of components for full scale operation and innovative strategies for operation and maintenance as well as for offshore logistics and installation.

The project intended to provide special attention to the mitigation of bottlenecks in the value chain as reduction of cost is the paramount concern across all stages of the offshore wind manufacturing, construction, installation, operation, maintenance and decommissioning process.

Enabled by the innovative concepts for manufacturing, logistics, installation, and O&M, actual data from the installed and operated wind turbine system would have validated the commercial viability of implementing a GW-sized offshore wind farm based on the i4Offshore field-proven solution.

The new offshore solution would have provided new, modularized components allowing leaner, faster, more reliable and more cost-efficient logistics-solutions in the transportation, handling, installation and O&M phases of future commercial project development.

The i4Offshore project would have delivered innovative, reliable and robust offshore wind power solutions reducing the LCoE for the entire wind farm to 80 €/MWh (or lower) before 2025.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The consortium partners, however, had little choice but to decide to terminate the i4Offshore project on a premature basis as the intended demonstrator host unfortunately found themselves in a position, where they could no longer support the project in the role of becoming the future owner and operator of the i4Offshore demonstrator foundation.

During the 18 months period the project was running, we managed to accomplish the following work:

• Preliminary structural design of the steel jacket
• Preliminary design of the concrete TP
• Geotechnical design of the suction bucket
• Integrated load analyses (two load iterations)
• Development work on the foundation load-reducing features: Concentrated Winding Topology and Trimstall Technology
• Further refining of a modularized jacket assembly process
• Design of a new unarmoured 66 kV 3-Core Aluminium cable with a separate Fiber Optic pipe.
• Developing of a cable hang-off system for the 3-Core cable

The project was presented to several Danish political stakeholders. More than 20 dissemination activities took place including conference and event participation, press-releases and publications, with scientific policy makers and industrial audience reached.

Furthermore, a project website, press-releases and infographics have been made.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The project was thus on good track to initiate the detailed engineering phase when the decision was taken to terminate the project.

We are convinced that the completion of the detailed engineering and fabrication phase would have proven the project a success in its ambition to deliver innovative, reliable and robust offshore wind power solutions reducing the LCoE for the entire wind farm to 80€/MWh - or even lower.

Modularized jacket assembly process, part 1

Array cable hang-off system

Conceptual layout of support structure; jacket and transition piece

cable-in-pipe installation concept

Conceptual layout of the suction bucket

Parametric shell model showing the concrete Transition Piece

Modularized jacket assembly process, part 2