Geo-research for offshore renewables
The share of offshore renewables in the global energy mix, and particularly in the Netherlands, has been constantly growing in the last two decades – especially owing to the development of new-generation offshore wind farms. The GSE Department substantially contributes to the offshore energy sector by liaising with prominent industry partners for the development of new geo-solutions, such as innovative foundation and anchoring systems for bottom-fixed and floating structures.
Geo-research for offshore renewables is strongly supported by combined public-private funds, and is carried out through multi-disciplinary synergies across the CEG Faculty and with other TUD Faculties. The relevance of the subject is currently fostering the expansion of the current GSE offshore group, which is attracting growing interest and recognition both nationally and internationally.
Relevant GSE Projects
MIDAS – Monopile Improved Design through Advanced cyclic Soil modelling
Installations in deeper waters and harsher environments are currently challenging the design of offshore wind turbine foundations, such as large-diameter monopiles. MIDAS targets fundamental understanding of monopile-soil interaction under environmental cyclic loading by combining advanced physical and numerical modelling research.
MIDAS will deliver new cyclic 1D soil reaction models with the ultimate target of optimal monopile design and cost optimisation.
Researchers
BLUE Piling
Current practice of monopile installation creates significant underwater noise which in turn requires the use of expensive noise mitigation measures. In this project the performance of various innovative pile driving methods are studied by investigating the dynamic soil resistance during pile driving using specifically designed geotechnical element tests.
Subsequently, the driveability of model piles subjected to various impact properties is explored using advanced physical and numerical methods.
