An innovative steel foundation technology that increases load-bearing capacity has been installed at an offshore wind farm in Germany in what is claimed to be a “world-first”.
The special steel collars were installed around the monopile foundation at seabed level at RWE’s Kaskasi offshore wind farm, expected to help boost the bearing capacity and improve the structural integrity of the entire foundation.
Kaskasi is a 342MW project currently under construction 35 kilometres north of the island of Heligoland, which will have the capacity to supply the equivalent of 400,000 households with green electricity every year after completion.
Three foundation collars have been embedded into the seabed, each seven metres high and weighing 170 tons., with the installation carried out by DEME Offshore.
RWE will carry out accompanying tests to verify the collar improves the structural behaviour in comparison with standard monopiles.
Sven Utermöhlen, CEO Offshore Wind, RWE Renewables said: “At our Kaskasi offshore wind farm we use innovative technologies that will set standards throughout the entire offshore industry. It’s a great credit to the project team and our contractors that we developed, manufactured and safely installed the three innovative foundation collars.
“The collared monopile, a patented solution developed in-house, will help to increase stability in difficult ground. This showcases our technical expertise as the second largest player in offshore wind globally.”
