Fantastic floating foundation: Siemens Gamesa sails with TetraSpar
Brande / 07 July 2021
In collaboration with Stiesdal Offshore Technologies and other industry partners, Siemens Gamesa participates in the new TetraSpar Demonstration Project, the world’s first full-scale demonstration of an industrialized floating offshore wind power foundation. The floating foundation, coupled with a Siemens Gamesa wind turbine, is now being towed to the test site in the Norwegian North Sea.
Communication Specialist
Offshore wind has incredible potential to become a powerful force in the fight for a greener climate, with extensive knowledge, innovation, and development being put into untapping its vast potential. Siemens Gamesa recognises this and is continuing to pioneer the offshore industry by using its breadth of experience and extensive knowledge of wind to propel innovations.
Siemens Gamesa is currently involved in the ground-breaking development of a new floating offshore wind power foundation, one of several which could move the industry into its next phases. The TetraSpar foundation is versatile and forward-thinking innovation: a modular, industrially manufactured concept that can be implemented in a range of floating variants and adapted to any turbine size and water depth. What makes it unique is the leaner manufacturing process, faster assembly, and lower material costs. The assembly is rapid and robust and takes place in the port. In fact, the only requirement is a flat area at the quayside.
The project, which is being led by Stiesdal Offshore Technologies in collaboration with other industry partners alongside Siemens Gamesa, wants to drive down the costs of floating offshore wind power through lean production and port-based assembly and installation. After some very important milestones, the TetraSpar foundation, coupled with our turbine, is being towed to the Norwegian North Sea. It will be located at the Marine Energy Test Centre (Metcentre) near Stavanger in Norway, approximately 10 km from shore at a water depth of 200 m.
“Aside from our stake in propelling the industry development, our interest in joining projects such as this is to gather as much knowledge as possible,” says Jesper Moeller, Head of Offshore Balance of Plant Innovations at Siemens Gamesa. “This will enable us to offer products and solutions for new markets such as the U.S. and Asia, where the potential for bottom-fixed offshore wind is lower than in the well-known central European markets, and floating is needed to achieve the necessary installed capacity.”
The project, which is being led by Stiesdal Offshore Technologies in collaboration with other industry partners alongside Siemens Gamesa, wants to drive down the costs of floating offshore wind power through lean production and port-based assembly and installation. After some very important milestones, the TetraSpar foundation, coupled with our turbine, is being towed to the Norwegian North Sea. It will be located at the Marine Energy Test Centre (Metcentre) near Stavanger in Norway, approximately 10 km from shore at a water depth of 200 m.
“Aside from our stake in propelling the industry development, our interest in joining projects such as this is to gather as much knowledge as possible,” says Jesper Moeller, Head of Offshore Balance of Plant Innovations at Siemens Gamesa. “This will enable us to offer products and solutions for new markets such as the U.S. and Asia, where the potential for bottom-fixed offshore wind is lower than in the well-known central European markets, and floating is needed to achieve the necessary installed capacity.”
Siemens Gamesa has provided and installed a 3.6 MW turbine on the tower they specified and produced by Welcon in Denmark. The foundation was assembled at the port of Grenaa in Denmark, following which the turbine was installed directly from quayside, and all will be towed to its destination. Relying on factory manufacturing of components for fast port assembly makes TetraSpar the world’s first fully industrialized floating offshore wind foundation.
“So far, we are very pleased that the demonstration project has proved what we set out to prove: that it is possible to safely manufacture, transport, and assemble a floating foundation using a scalable industrialized approach. The benefits for us and the project shareholders of having Siemens Gamesa onboard as a vital partner are self-evident. Siemens Gamesa’s unparalleled experience and competence in offshore wind will be a key component both in the project’s next stages and in our combined efforts to commercialize this technology,” says Henrik Stiesdal.
“So far, we are very pleased that the demonstration project has proved what we set out to prove: that it is possible to safely manufacture, transport, and assemble a floating foundation using a scalable industrialized approach. The benefits for us and the project shareholders of having Siemens Gamesa onboard as a vital partner are self-evident. Siemens Gamesa’s unparalleled experience and competence in offshore wind will be a key component both in the project’s next stages and in our combined efforts to commercialize this technology,” says Henrik Stiesdal.
In order to deploy offshore wind in such deep waters, the industry has been deploying pilot- and pre-commercial scale projects to improve the designs of floating foundations and to establish their costs. Siemens Gamesa has been engaged in these efforts from the very start with pilot floating projects such as the Hywind Demo in Norway at 2.3 MW from 2009 and Hywind Scotland, the world’s largest floating offshore wind project at 30 MW, in operation since 2017. Further projects, Hywind Tampen at 88 MW and Provence Grand Large at 24 MW, are in the implementation phase and will be important for the industry to take the next step towards fully industrial projects.
Siemens Gamesa has been partnering with a broad palette of industry players for decades, using our expertise to anticipate future industry requirements and contribute to the industry. Offshore wind is already an incredible tool working to alleviate the effects of climate change. If we act now, it will be an essential and unstoppable force that could greatly contribute to the creation of a better future for us all.
This project will enable us to offer products and solutions for new markets such as the U.S. and Asia, where the potential for bottom-fixed offshore wind is lower than in the well-known central European markets, and floating is needed to achieve the necessary installed capacity
TetraSpar Demonstration Project
