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After gaining the prestigious detailed design contract for ScottishPower Renewables’ East Anglia Hub in England, Wood Thilsted has now completed secondary steel design for Japan’s first commercial windfarm, Akita Noshiro Offshore Wind, on the far north west coast of Honshu.

Wood Thilsted is also providing the Kajima Corporation (part of the EPCI contractor) with transport and installation (T&I) support for Akita Offshore Wind Corporation, whose inaugural project, comprising 33 turbines, is expected to commence energy generation in late 2022.

2021 11 05 092249Danny Bonnett, Engineering Director at Wood Thilsted, said: “Design work, transport and installation assessments for an emerging technology in a new market always provides a series of particular challenges, including the interpretation of relevant health and safety regulations.”

“But”, he added, “as we are already achieving in Taiwan and other locations worldwide, our experts can deliver a highly efficient and ergonomic design arrangement that meets specific needs; in this case, designing secondary structures, including important boat-landing and external work platforms for a part of the world where seismic events can cause high wave loading”.

The Akita Noshiro project has a conical grouted connection, which for the installation scope, required careful work to ensure that the ‘centralisers’ and associated jacks would ensure accurate levelling of transition pieces, whilst providing enough fixity during grout curing to mitigate the effects of early age cycling. 

Developed by a consortium led by Marubeni, the Akita project

maintained a very challenging schedule for manufacture, transportation and installation works; in part by Wood Thilsted’s experience of the type of turbines that have been installed - and its understanding of the requirements for support and installation of high voltage electrical components.

In addition to this first commercial windfarm in Japan, Wood Thilsted has also provided detailed design for both Vineyard Wind (the first utility-scale offshore windfarm in America) and for Dogger Bank A in the North Sea (UK).

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With the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow less than two months away, the offshore wind industry can help lead the way in showing COP representatives that solutions are readily available to deliver rapid decarbonisation.

According to Danny Bonnett, Engineering Director at geotechnical and structural specialists, Wood Thilsted, politicians need to understand that in addition to all the sound environmental benefits, fast action on decarbonisation is needed because business is yearning for this transition.

2021 10 21 162253“As we see demand for offshore power continue to soar across the globe”, he said, “governments need to think big when writing the next chapter at COP26 in Glasgow”.

He added: “As offshore wind engineering specialists, we for example, can show just how efficient the design process can be with a holistic approach to what we specify and where. We have the solutions to deliver rapid decarbonisation across the energy sector in the very short term, and in the rest of the economy in the medium term. COP26 is a golden opportunity for bold action by governments to allow businesses to invest, to innovate, to seek the fastest and most cost-effective ways of stripping out carbon”.

Bonnett also pointed to SteelZero (which Wood Thilsted strongly advocate) – a global initiative that he believes sends a very powerful message to steel producers, policymakers and investors to accelerate the transition to widescale production of net zero steel. Bonnett claims that many of the barriers currently facing the offshore industry in its steel supply chains can be removed.

He continued: “During these past 18 months of the pandemic, the world has grown up. I think we now have a much better insight into our human vulnerability than ever before. The Global Transition and its sub-set, the Energy Transition are critically important. COP26 must think big and act quick”.

www.woodthilsted.com

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A proven track record working with next generation offshore turbines around the world pushed UK structural and geotechnical engineering specialists Wood Thilsted to first choice for the detailed design contract for ScottishPower Renewables’ East Anglia Hub.

Wood Thilsted, which has worked on monopile foundation designs for pioneering US and European offshore wind farms, will design foundations for more than 200 14+MW Siemens Gamesa turbines that will stand in waters more than 50m deep in the East Anglia Hub, off the Suffolk coast.

The turbines on East Anglia ONE North, TWO and THREE that form the 3.1GW East Anglia Hub will be among the world’s most powerful and productive, generating more than 7.5% of the UK’s 40GW target for offshore wind power by 2030 and a key part of the UK’s race to net zero, a green recovery post-Covid and action on climate change.

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East Anglia Hub will build on the success of SPR’s flagship East Anglia ONE project, now more than a year into its operations. East Anglia THREE has consent and results of the planning process for /east Anglia ONE North and TWO are expected by January 2022.

Ross Ovens, East Anglia Hub project director, said:

“Wood Thilsted’s expertise is vital to us being able to deliver the safest and most efficient foundations for this hugely significant project.

“Design has a major bearing on costs, safety and installability so bringing in an international team that has the right level of experience – in this case with the latest generation turbines – is extremely beneficial to the future success of the East Anglia Hub.”

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Ed Crammond, director at Wood Thilsted, added:

“We are working very closely with ScottishPower Renewables, who share our strong belief in the importance of a multi-disciplinary design approach to continually improve offshore wind’s LCOE (levelised cost of energy). Together with parent company, Iberdrola, they are setting a very good example for the industry.”

The contract award comes weeks before all eyes turn to COP26 in Glasgow, where world leaders will converge to discuss how to tackle climate change.

Energy minister Greg Hands this week described offshore wind as “the lynchpin in our efforts to reach net zero” at Renewable UK’s (RUK) Global Offshore Wind Conference and Exhibition, with RUK chief executive Dan McGrail calling for support to further build scale and, importantly, speed, reflecting on a development process that can take a decade to deliver a single farm.

The partnership of SPR and Wood Thilsted pivots on a shared ethos to bring down the levelised cost of energy (LCOE) by foundation design improvements with a keen focus on installability and safety.

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Following its very warm reception at the recent International Partnering Forum (IPF) in Virginia - hosted by the Business Network for Offshore Wind – Wood Thilsted has underlined ambitious plans to secure the largest market share of foundation design in the USA.

Hannah Abend - Chief Operating Officer at Wood ThilstedHannah Abend - Chief Operating Officer at Wood ThilstedEstablished in 2015, but with a wealth of experience in its fast-growing team of structural and geotechnical experts, Wood Thilsted (who already have an office in Boston) is playing a key role with Vineyard Wind I, America’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm.

“Long-awaited political support and the development of the supply chain is extremely positive for the growth of offshore wind in the U S”, says Wood Thilsted’s Chief Operating Officer, Hannah Abend.

‘Colossal Achievement’

“We hear plenty of negativity already about the United States perhaps not meeting its offshore targets – and it might not – but what if it meets 90 or 95 per cent of its target?!”, she added. “That’s still a colossal achievement that would be a massive boost to jobs, the industry and decarbonizing the planet. I call that ‘positive’ – with Wood Thilsted’s early project engineering through detailed design work on course to play a huge role in the growth of America’s offshore wind industry”.

‘Wood Thilsted has the distinct advantage’

Abend cited three fundamental drivers for design of offshore wind farms: marine conditions (metocean), wind conditions (atmosphere, energy production) and soil conditions (seabed and ground properties) – stating that Wood Thilsted has the distinct advantage – unlike others - of having brought these key skills together in an optimised approach that offers an unrivalled competence.

“After some false starts, America’s offshore wind industry is about to spring out the blocks at full pelt”, says Abend. “We are rapidly partnering with numerous important organisations on everything from US licensing and permits to how best to tackle the challenge of the suitability of ports, transportation, installation and servicing. We’re a young company, but our expertise is going to put us at the heart of offshore wind in the U S”.

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