New foundation designs can be cheaper to produce and also reduce installation costs by 50%, according to a study conducted by MEC Intelligence. Read the full 27 page study here: http://bit.ly/Study_foundations

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Month day, year
Foundations for larger & deeper offshore wind
Which foundation type is cost effective for larger turbines and increasingly complex projects?
A commercial study comparing price for various offshore wind foundation technologies
February 2015

2. 2
– Currently there are 43 installation vessels suitable for offshore wind construction in EU; daily rate ranges between EUR 70k to
290k
– The current vessel days are just enough to meet the demand from conventional foundations
– In <800 tonne lifting category, new foundations eliminate the need for higher capacity vessel to meet the increase
– In, 800-1200 tonne lifting category, new foundation adoption increases the vessel oversupply by 141% percent by 2020
– In >1200 tonne lifting category, new foundations increase the vessel oversupply by 32% percent by 2020
New foundation
designs could
lead to major
oversupply in the
vessels market
II
New foundation designs could be cost effective as compared to conventional designs and also
reduce vessel demand for construction
Source: MEC+ analysis
SUMMARY
– Foundation cost are primary driven by Material and installation costs with 65-85 % share of the total cost and have been
considered in this study
– New foundation designs have lower costs as turbines become larger and installed in deeper sea
– For 6 MW, new foundations are ~4-20% lower in material cost when compared to monopiles & jackets while for turbine sizes 8
MW and larger, new designs reduce the cost by ~21-24%
– Installation cost does not vary much in comparison to material costs, but can be a bottleneck in timely execution of the OW
farm. New foundation designs can reduce the installation cost by ~50% as compared to the conventional designs
– Mono-suction bucket is cost effective for 4-6 MW turbine size at lower to medium depths, while CraneFree Gravity is most
suitable for even larger turbines at medium to larger depths
– Cost reduction potential of 5-15% is observed for foundations at select 5 farms in Europe. However, developers need to manage
risk and other associated premium costs with appropriate contracting
New foundation
designs could be
10 percent to 30
percent cheaper
as compared to
conventional
designs
I

3. 3
Around 5600 turbines are expected to be
installed by 2020
..resulting in cumulative capacity of 27 GW
expected to start construction by 2020
Innovation is being driven to reduce the high cost of energy from offshore wind planned in EU
INTRODUCTION
2,9
2019
5,9
2018
7,9
2017
5,5
2016
4,8
2015
1,3
2020
OW annual capacity in GW*
654
954
286
20202019
1.050
2018
1.493
2017
1.245
20162015
No. Of Foundations
* Based on the construction start year of the farms
Source: Windpower database, News articles, MEC+ analysis
4-6 MW 6-8 MW
Dominating Turbine Sizes
..the offshore wind energy industry
needs to attract between €90 bn. and
€123 bn. by 2020 to meet its
deployment targets, increasing its
installed capacity from 6 GW in mid-
2013 to 40 GW….
EWEA, 2013
..supply chain is innovating to reduce
costs and deliver a competitive product
for UK and international
markets….costs can be reduced to
around £100/ MWh for a project
financed in 2020…. main areas of cost
reduction are larger turbines, supply
chain competition, better design and
economies of scale,…risk reduction
and lower costs of capital..
UK Trade & Investment, 2014
Large investment is planned in OW…
1.8 10 6.3 5.6 2.5 2.8
XX Contracted capacity in the year
Expected annual capacity to start construction by
2020