What impact will the increasing size of offshore wind turbines have on the choice of foundation from a design and cost perspective? Peter Lindegaard, Offshore Specialist at MHI Vestas Offshore Wind, shared his views with us in the interview below where we also discussed the possibility of OEMs developing their own foundations and the future of floating wind power. Read the expert interview for free here: http://bit.ly/Interviewvestas_Lindegaard

1. Load Evaluation for Offshore Wind Turbines
Peter Lindegaard, Offshore Specialist at MHI Vestas Offshore Wind
Expert Interview

2. The best turbines towers are worthless if they are not literally well grounded. This holds
especially true for the offshore wind industry where currents, and challenging ground
conditions can make it extremely difficult to secure and fast the towers. Peter
Lindegaard, Offshore Specialist at MHI Vestas Offshore Wind knows this first hand which
is why we are we very glad to have had the chance to talk to him.
Mr. Lindegaard, what is your role at Vestas and where do you set your focus in work?
I am responsible for the load evaluation on our projects, as well as tower and founda-
tion design. That means that I am basically involved in the projects right from the tender
phase and onwards to manufacturing and installation. I’m responsible for turbine load,
tower design and foundation design. Of course, for foundation design we have only a
supporting role, we are not responsible for the foundation design. But of course it is high-
ly important that we are deeply involved in the project and are participating in making
sure that foundation designs are optimized as much as possible.
As offshore turbines get larger, what impact will that have on foundation structures from
both design and cost perspectives?
I think with respect to design, larger turbines will of course mean that you will see
monopiles becoming larger. There has been a lot of discussion about XL monopiles, and
larger turbines are clearly a driver towards that trend. At the same time you will also see
more complex structures coming more into play at an even lower water depth – that
could be jackets as the most typical example. So, yes it will definitely impact the choice
of foundation, pushing for larger monopiles and also more complex structures like jack-
ets.
Because they’re more cost efficient?
They are cost efficient, but there’s also a very mature supply chain for them, which I
think is considered to be low-risk. And the maturity of the supply chain I think is also im-
portant.