Posters

Abstract

As part of East Anglia One (EA1) Supply Chain commitment an area of up to five positions were planned as “Test Site Area” in order to reduce barriers and accelerate competition for future offshore wind projects including the wider EA1 Zone. Scottish Power Renewables (SPR) were seeking a competitive priced jacket-pile gripper solution that could be used for a large number of jacket foundations to prevent early-age cycling (movement) of the jacket during the grout curing process. Most gripper systems currently on the market are for post piled oil and gas jackets and do not provide a cost effective solution for the offshore wind market. Pile grippers were investigated in late 2017 and W3G Marine (W3GM) produced a conceptual Foundation Stability Tool (FST), a design which could be retrofitted to the jackets. Throughout 2018 various components of the FST were fabricated and tested on shore. Preliminary analysis results indicate that achieving On Bottom Stability and Early Age Cycling acceptable criteria on EA1 project for a sea state of between 3.0 and 4.5 m Hs could be possible. However, to gain full thirdparty verification of the W3GM system and confidence within the EA1 Project a ‘wet test’ was required. A market review of pile gripper products carried out by SPR showed that the W3GM FST design could be adapted for future projects and providing significant cost savings.