Fresh hope for offshore wind

Start-up seeks UK manufacturing sites for for its massive Articulated Wind Columns

A start-up firm with a potentially disruptive technology for the offshore wind sector is looking to open multiple manufacturing sites across the UK and create thousands of jobs after initial tests of its innovative foundation technology proved successful.

Marine Engineering Energy Solutions (Mees) is looking at sites in ports to make up to 50 of its massive Articulated Wind Columns (AWC) a year from 2018 and plans to open a head office in South East England.

Otto Carlisle, director of Mees, said: “The combined numbers employed from such a site would run into the hundreds. However, if you add all the other parts of the project – nacelle, blades, shaft, installation and servicing – the numbers would run into the thousands.”

The columns that Mees plans to make are up to 200m high. They are built onshore, sunk at sea with no need for divers or fixings to the seabed, and wind turbines are fixed on top. The simplified process for their foundations would slash installation time and costs in the stalling offshore sector.

The company successfully completed the first tests of its AWC concept at a water basin in Toulon, France, late last year. Engineers are analysing data from the tests so they can build a computer model that can simulate the AWC at different depths and conditions, and will soon begin developing manufacturing and installation processes for the ‘wind turbine substructure’. Mees plans to have a full-size prototype in the water by 2017.

The AWC consists of a large concrete base to which an articulated joint is attached. A hollow, 50-200m tall, reinforced-concrete column is attached to the joint. The column would be built up in halves at the quayside, the base and column attached and then barged out to the windfarm site. Once at the site, the AWC would be ballasted and sunk in a simple operation that does not require divers.

The column, which remains vertical because it is buoyant, stretches up to the water’s surface. An 8MW or 10MW turbine would then be fixed to the top of the column. The combined weight of the wind turbine, column and ballasted base ensures that the structure remains in place. The articulated joint provides a 360° plane for the column to move at inclinations of up to 6° for limited periods of time, allowing for extraordinary loads placed on the turbine during storms and bad weather. 

Carlisle said: “Our solution is a game-changer. There are other companies looking at floating turbines but they have limitations. This covers a lot of the sites being planned and is suitable for big turbines. It makes use of natural forces to cope with natural forces, and as a result you take away the large, costly structures associated with wind turbine foundations. As we move into 8MW or 10MW turbines, and head who knows where, it just becomes more cost-effective and practical.”

The AWC, including the articulated joint, is based on technology that has been used in the oil and gas sector, including in the North Sea, for more than 30 years for risers for wells and as supports for accommodation blocks. Mees has received around £300,000 of funding from the Department of Energy and Climate Change to adapt the technology for offshore wind.

The company is talking to windfarm developers and turbine manufacturers and targeting costs of under £100 per megawatt-hour for the system. Carlisle said the company sees potential markets for the AWC as deep water, near shore sites around the UK and in France, Portugal, Spain, Brazil and the US. “We’re confident we will be more cost-effective than other deep-water foundation systems, but we want to be competitive with other energy sources too. We’re working on improving the costs, which will come down as we refine the design and move to mass production.”