Foundation optimized for fabrication in the US
The Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCo) will lead an international engineering team to design an offshore wind turbine monopile foundation optimized for fabrication in the US.
The developer says the design will catalyze domestic manufacturing growth by removing barriers to entry faced by US-based steel fabricators that want to supply foundations for the offshore wind industry.
LEEDCo developed the conceptual design of the foundation system last year through a US Department of Energy (DOE) competition. Cleveland-based LEEDCo today finalized a new DOE award of $2.8m to complete the detailed engineering.
“This will be the first monopile foundation designed from the ground up to be built by American companies and installed in American waters,” says Lorry Wagner, president of LEEDCo.
“Monopiles have proven to be the most cost-effective solution for the vast majority of offshore wind projects in the world. This design will enable American fabricators to compete against their European counterparts that already have decades of experience in this industry,” he adds.
LEEDCo, a nonprofit public-private consortium, is developing an 18MW demonstration project called Icebreaker in Ohio state waters in Lake Erie facing Cleveland.
For the foundation, LEEDCo will partner with GLWN, a leading wind industry supply chain adviser, to engage local and regional fabricators. LEEDCo selected American Tank & Fabricating (AT&F), a Cleveland-based steel fabricator, as a partner to represent US fabricators during the design process.