Pile aging study for offshore wind applications

Project Description

In order to achieve the greenhouse gas emissions targets set out in the Paris agreement, Ireland will need to significantly decarbonise its energy supply. Due to reducing costs, offshore wind now offers the most viable means for large scale decarbonisation of Irelands electricity supply by 2030. The new Programme for Government 2020 has targeted 5GW of offshore wind capacity to be installed by 2030 at an estimated cost of more than €10 billion. At the end of 2019 there was 22 GW of offshore wind installed in Europe, mainly in areas near shore with favourable shallow water conditions. The foundations of an offshore wind turbine can represent up to 25% of the overall cost of development and more than 90% of offshore wind turbines installed to date are fixed to the seabed using steel piled foundations. This project aims to investigate pile ageing effects, one of the key challenges facing offshore foundation designers. This will be achieved through a combination of novel field and laboratory testing, and will lead to significant advances in scientific knowledge in Geotechnical Engineering and improvements in the design efficiency of Offshore Renewables.