The future of wind energy is at sea, or at least according to the desire of the German federal government.
The development of offshore wind farms in the German North and Baltic Seas is already well advanced. During the implementation phase, these projects have faced numerous obstacles and difficulties. Now, the industry needs to refocus attention on the best technical solutions.
The standard ground investigation for offshore wind parks for the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) has been reviewed. In this regard, the subjects of cyclicality and geotechnical field exploration play an important role.
Due to the specific conditions at sea, offshore wind farms are setting high standards when it comes to the planning and implementation. Detailed site investigations are a basic requirement for the safe construction and operation of wind farms. Innovative installation methods are currently under development, tailored to local conditions along with monitoring and maintenance concepts which will, in the long, term secure the possibility to optimize the foundation structures with respect to their safety. The assessment of sites for wind turbines in terms of their suitability and geotechnical assessment requires a lot of practical experience.
Therefore, the House of Technology in cooperation with the Department of Geotechnical Engineering, University of Duisburg-Essen is holding a conference entitled “Ground Investigation, Foundation Installation and Monitoring of Offshore Wind Turbines” on 28 and 29 November in Essen.
The aim of the event is to give participants an overview of the requirements for site investigations for offshore wind farms and to familiarize them with the characteristics of geophysical and geotechnical site investigations at sea.
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Offshore WIND staff, September 23, 2013; Image: hdt-essen