Bladt-Led Taskforce Working on Jacket Foundations Cost-Model

A new cost-model which can be used to benchmark costs on jacket foundations will be presented in early 2018, as one of the working groups within a Bladt Industries-led jacket foundation taskforce is now working on the cost-model.

The cost-model is based on the EU-funded innovation project for offshore wind, the INNWIND.EU project, with a 4-legged, x-braced jacket structure supporting the 10MW InnWind Turbine placed at a 50-meter water depth. The model thus takes account for future development in both megawatts and depth range of offshore wind parks.

The model will enable benchmarking cost benefits on individual parts of the jacket foundation and thereby identify which areas have the largest Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE) reduction potential.

If for instance the model shows that transition pieces take up 25% of the overall costs, and this again is split between 25% for material costs and 75% on production costs, then it will be apparent that there is a significant reduction potential in production processes. The cost estimates are based on anonymised averaged inputs from group participants and shown in the model in percent.

“Benchmarking cost reduction efforts against a standard jacket design will increase transparency in the overall LCOE reduction achievements which then will make it easier to communicate to stakeholders,” said Richard van Aurich, Seaway Heavy Lifting, who also chairs the development of the cost-model in the working group.

The jacket taskforce was initiated by Bladt in June 2016 to identify standardisation potentials on jacket foundations and thereby pave the way for further LCOE reductions on offshore wind energy.

Danish Wind Industry Association and Offshoreenergy.dk are co-facilitating the taskforce within the framework of Megavind, to ensure a neutral platform for this cross-industrial collaboration.

The taskforce gathers 25 companies from the Danish and international wind industry, who are part of the working groups, with each group being dedicated to one focus area. One group is working on formulating new generic standards for design of transition pieces (TPs) to minimize resources, and the other is looking into modularization and industrialization of jacket constructions to bring down production costs.

Source: Danish Wind Industry Association