Development of foundations for renewable energy technologies

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With escalating energy demand and climate change, securing supplies of low-emission energy is a major global challenge. Although growth in the non-hydro renewable sector over the last decade has been impressive, continued renewable energy expansion in Canada is facing challenges. Canadian electricity prices are some of the lowest in the world, and whilst costs have decreased for renewable energy due to technological advances, it is still difficult for these sources to compete for market share. Most renewable energy generators (e.g. wind turbines and solar panels) are fixed to soil bodies. Environmental and self-weight loads on these devices result in complex cyclic forces that are transmitted to their foundations. Renewable energy projects need cost reductions in their foundation engineering to make them economically viable at commercial scales. This challenge is exacerbated by immaturity of some technologies (e.g. offshore wind turbines and geothermal piles), the need for increasing generating capacities (e.g. bigger wind turbines) and transitions to more aggressive conditions (difficult soils and the offshore environment). In addition, foundation design for renewables is currently based on knowledge and technology developed for other sectors and climates, and this is reflected in current design methods and our understanding of the long-term performance of these structures. The aim of this grant will be the investigation of the soil-structure interaction behavior of different renewable energy foundation. The following problems will be investigated: a) Wave and ice loading of offshore foundations for wind turbines, b) Long-term behavior of geothermal pile systems, c) Response of wind turbine monopile foundations to unsaturated, expansive clays and d) Frost action on lightly loaded piles on solar farms. Different design methods will be validated and calibrated for predicting the behavior of these foundation systems, supported by data from field testing, soil laboratory tests, scaled physical model testing and computer analysis. Appropriate loading time-histories for random environmental processes will be used to develop these predictive methods. Over the funding period, data and knowledge accrued from the research will be utilized by engineers working in the construction, energy and the offshore industries. The grant will enable the creation of (i) knowledge of foundations and geotechnical processes, (ii) databases of field-scale behavior, (iii) design and construction information, (iv) new remedial approaches and (v) data for analytical method validation that is specific to the renewable energy sector. New geotechnical challenges associated with renewable energy applications will require the optimization of current methods and development of new techniques. Developing the renewable energy sector will provide opportunities to increase economic growth, create new employment opportunities and enhance human health, wealth and security in Canada.