Solid stand:
special grouting mortars accelerate construction of offshore wind turbines

Wind farms at sea are one of the most important elements of the German “Energiewende”(“energy turnaround”). In tackling the structural tasks, new special mortars help to build high-performance wind turbines under the harsh maritime conditions and save valuable installation time and costs.

In Germany – and also in many other countries around the world – offshore wind turbines are powerful options for generating renewable energy. Locations with very good wind potential , as well as over 20 years of experience in building entire wind farms, call for offshore wind turbines. The challenges of the future are greater water depths and the ever-increasing distance to the coast.

In practice, various designs of support structures have become established. The most common are so-called “monopile constructions”, in which a single enormous steel pile with a diameter of up to 10 m is driven into the seabed, and the so-called “jacket construction”, which is based on a three- or four-sided truss construction made of steel that is also fixed in the seabed by means of foundation piles. In both methods, the transition between the foundation piles and the further superstructures usually placed on top of them is an important and challenging interface.

In the case of the monopile, this point is the so-called transition piece on which the complete tower is placed later. One of its tasks is to compensate possible vertical deviations between the foundation and the tower – with the help of a permanent connection. For this purpose, the resulting annular gap of the pipe-in-pipe connection is filled with an ultra-high-strength grouting mortar.

The dry mortar required for this is delivered in silos or in big bags and processed with a continuous mixing and pumping plant mounted on the ship.  

Positive effects

When working in an extremely weather-dependent environment far from the coast, it is particularly important to optimise the construction process. That is why a special mortar specifically developed for such conditions is used here. Its extraordinary good processing properties and the optimised pumping method enable fast processing and thus also increase the economic efficiency of the construction. This means that even short time windows due to weather conditions can be used for construction progress. At the same time, the material is extremely durable and – in contrast to alternative connections such as screws – maintenance-free.

Thanks to the chemical composition of the mortar, a high pumping capacity is possible, which leads to much faster processing than in the past. As a consequence, the total installation time is significantly reduced, which also lowers the overall costs.

Conclusion

With the help of special mortars  optimised by construction chemicals, offshore wind turbines can be realised faster, safer and ultimately more economically. Particularly in the challenging environment at sea, they make work possible even in tight time frames, reliably ensure a solid stand of the turbines and thus make a major contribution to the “Energiewende”. 

Your contact in Brussels

Martin Ludescher
Director Government Affairs

Phone: +32 2 / 5 48 06 - 92
E-mail: martin.ludescher[at]vci.de
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