New Project Wants to Tackle Offshore Costs by Optimising Design of Jacket Foundations

The Carbon Trust’s Offshore Wind Accelerator today announced a new £2.4 million project, Improved Fatigue Life of Welded Jacket Connections (JaCo), aiming to cut the cost of offshore wind by optimising the design of jacket foundations through improved fatigue standards and validation of faster testing and fabrication methods. Jacket foundations are set to become a more dominant design solution, as monopiles are unlikely to be practical for many future offshore wind farms located in deeper water sites and with larger turbines.

The JaCo project will develop a better understanding of fatigue performance by testing full-size jacket nodes made from existing manual and novel automated welding processes. Coupled with improved standards it is estimated that a weight reduction of 10... ... More: Official Press Release Carbon Trust