Photo: London Array
Covering an area of 100 km2, the London Array comprises 175 massive turbines and two substations laid out in neat rows like a vast plantation of mechanical palm trees.
It produces up to 630 megawatts of electricity - enough power for more than half a million homes a year.
This vast wind farm symbolises the world's increasing focus on renewable energy sources. In the UK alone, the goal is to provide 15 percent of Britain’s energy from renewable sources by 2020.
Suppliers must provide innovative and high quality solutions, while having the necessary control measures in place to keep the risks at a minimum.
The need for high-quality, innovative solutions also applied to the monopiles supporting the wind turbines in the London Array.
These gigantic steel structures are up to 100 metres tall and are made of cylindrical steel tubes, which are driven into the seabed.
COWI carried out the detailed design of the steel foundations, which are 5.7 metres wide and weigh as much as 1,000 tonnes in total.
To handle the enormous amount of data sets involved, the COWI team created COPILOD - a complex software platform that incorporates the latest design knowledge, stores all design information and compiles data and drawings.
“The tool makes it possible to achieve a high-quality and fast generation of design drawings and reports. It enables you to execute the design of foundations quickly and make amendments in minutes when otherwise they would take days to perform,” explains Technical Director, Martin Kelm.
The varied soil layers put heavy demands on the monopile design. Click on video to know more.
LOCATION:
North Sea
PERIOD:
2009-2011
CLIENT:
Aarsleff | Bilfinger
Berger Joint Venture
COWI'S SERVICES:
Michael Sienko
Business Development Director
Offshore Wind, Denmark
Tel:
+45 4176 3973
mlso@cowi.com