Rationalising offshore wind-turbine pile design and assurance in difficult ground

几乎所有海上风力涡轮机的基础，无论是单桩、三脚架、夹套还是浮式风力涡轮机，都依赖于牢固的桩基础。然而，在北海和波罗的海地区，困难的地面条件经常使设计既有效又经济的基础变得困难。地基可以消耗25%到30%的项目成本，而桩基的不确定性可能会限制或阻碍海上可再生能源的发展。一个由主要开发商苏格兰可再生能源公司（Scottish Power Renewables）、著名大学伦敦帝国理工学院（Imperial College London）和一家小型专业岩土工程公司（GCG, London）组成的联盟正在努力降低整个行业的成本，特别是在以粉笔为主但前景广阔的开发领域。正在采取的关键步骤是：(i)开发可适用于所有不确定地面条件的新型海上测试程序；（ii）利用研发团队最近取得的进展，在Chalk进行一套独特的现场测试；（iii）综合所有现有数据，开发更可靠的新设计程序。这项工作将降低许多未来重大项目面临的成本和风险。

Nearly all offshore wind turbine foundations, whether monopile, tripod, jacket or floating wind turbines rely on strong piled foundations. However, difficult ground conditions are often encountered at North Sea and Baltic sites that make it hard to design foundations that are both effective and economic. Foundations can consume 25 to 30% of project costs and uncertainty over piled foundations can restrict or block the development of offshore renewable energy. A Consortium representing a major developer, Scottish Power Renewables, a leading University, Imperial College London, and a small firm of specialist geotechnical engineers (GCG, London) is working to drive costs down across the Industry, especially in Chalk-dominated, but otherwise promising, development areas. The key steps being taken are: (i) developing novel offshore test procedures that can be applied in all uncertain ground conditions, (ii) conducting a unique set of field tests in Chalk, drawing on recent advances made by the research and development team and (iii) synthesis with all available data to develop new more reliable design procedures. The work will cut the costs and risks faced by many major future projects.