OWLC Selling Rights to Gravity Tripod Offshore Wind Foundation

Foundations

March 11, 2024, by Adrijana Buljan

The rights to the gravity tripod offshore wind foundation developed by the UK company Offshore Wind Logistics and Construction (OWLC) have been put up for sale following an appointment of administrators who initiated an accelerated sale of the business.

OWLC says its gravity tripod foundation can deliver a solution to the offshore wind industry that is quicker, cheaper and more environmentally friendly than monopiles or jackets.

The foundation, which uses concrete instead of steel, is said to reduce levelised cost of energy (LCOE) between 11 and 12 per cent, according to information on OWLC’s website, which cites BVG Associate’s study from 2020 that also found the gravity tripod to be 51 per cent cheaper than a jacket substructure and 36 per cent cheaper than a monopile to install.

The company also emphasises that its foundation is designed for turbines of up to and beyond 25 MW and that it has a 100-year design life, lending itself to easy and efficient re-powering.

According to Michael Roome and Dean Nelson, Business Recovery and Restructuring Partners at PKF Smith Cooper, who were appointed as Administrators of OWLC Holdings Limited on 26 February, the patent for Gravity Tripod is already registered in “several key geographies worldwide.”

Back in 2019, HR Wallingford announced it was conducting physical model testing for OWLC’s gravity tripod foundation together with Offshore Design Engineering (ODE), DNV-GL, Cambridge University and the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult.

The testing, aimed at certifying the offshore wind foundation concept, was funded by the UK’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).