Suction Bucket: Trial Installation

Based on the full-scale prototype, produced in the first phase of the project, the purpose of this project is to test and demonstrate the modular bucket design at an offshore test site outside of Frederikshavn. Data from the demonstration will be compared with data from the scale prototype, and at the end of the project, the modular bucket concept will be considered validated on TRL 8.

Challenge

Offshore wind turbines are installed on foundations that are fixed to the seabed. The foundations consist primarily of steel, and are a costly construction that, together with a time-consuming installation at sea, makes the price of foundations for offshore wind turbines make up 20-30 percent of the total price of an offshore wind farm.

Solution idea

In the Suction Bucket project, companies and a university are testing a new design of a foundation for offshore wind turbines — a so-called suction bucket — that can be sucked into the seabed and anchored with negative pressure. The design was created in a previous project from 2016.

The suction bucket will be constructed of much smaller steel than conventional foundations. This means that the price of materials for the production of the foundation decreases and that the environmental impact is reduced. The suction bucket requires a short installation time and can be produced by a large number of subcontractors, as the new foundation is assembled as a modular system in steel.

The first part of the test of the new foundation was carried out in the seabed off Frederikshavn in the first half of 2019. The further part of the test phase will tell the project partners about the suction bucket’s ability to carry an offshore wind turbine. The project partners expect that the new design can be commercialised, so that the wind industry can save on the materials for foundations and the time consumption during the installation phase. Both will make wind power more competitive.

Project deliverables

Test and demonstration of full-scale prototype of the suction bucket