The jacket foundation, the core structure for Europe's largest single-unit capacity offshore wind turbine, the Inch Cape offshore wind power project, had been delivered in Zhuhai City in south China's Guangdong Province, China National Offshore Oil Corporation said on Tuesday.
It marks a major breakthrough in China's core manufacturing capabilities for offshore wind power products.
The delivered core structure comprises three jackets and 11 monopile transition sections, totaling 13,850 tonnes.
The jackets stand 95.19 meters tall.
As the first steel-pile wind turbine jackets built by China for foreign clients, they present high structural connection and protection challenges with complex construction techniques.
The transition sections feature hefty central cylinders and thick walls, significantly increasing the difficulty of welding process and precision control.
"We have pioneered the world's first 'side V' construction technique for wind turbine jacket foundations, applying 'modular pre-assembly plus real-time monitoring and calibration' technology to achieve sub-millimeter accuracy in the jacket closure. We have independently developed high-strength steel welding technology, successfully passing the minus 50 degree Celsius low-temperature impact welding qualification test. This enables 100-percent domestic construction of the core structure, filling a technical gap in the sector in China. By precisely controlling welding temperatures and structural deformation, we have achieved a first-pass weld acceptance rate exceeding 99 percent," said Luo Jianmin, deputy project manager of the Inch Cap project.
China-built jacket foundation for Europe's largest single-unit capacity offshore wind turbine delivered
China-built jacket foundation for Europe's largest single-unit capacity offshore wind turbine delivered
