Environmentally friendly solution for wind turbine installation

Offshore wind energy has become a vital part of the UK’s energy mix, helping with the transition to net zero emissions across the economy. However, wind turbine installation is costly and adversely impacts the marine environment of the site, discouraging new investment. But it needn’t be that way. An inventive renewables SME Cedeco worked with our NCC team to establish whether one element of the turbine could be made more environmentally friendly at a cost-effective price point.

With funding from the Offshore Wind Growth Partnership, the NCC worked with Cedeco to develop an early-stage concept for a composite gripper, which would hold an offshore wind turbine leg in place without so much need for environmentally invasive reinforcement. Through modelling and detailed assessment, NCC’s experts established that the composite grippers could slash the cost of that part and cut the installation time of a turbine farm by up to 50 days, whilst also reducing the environmental impact of the turbine installation by up to 40%. This would help to make investment in offshore wind even more attractive, moving the UK further towards its net zero target.

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