Integrated floating method based on four-bucket jacket foundation for offshore substations and converter stations

Abstract

ABSTRACT The construction of deep-sea and offshore wind farms is key to the development of offshore wind power. Since the forms of bottom supporting structures and their installation methods greatly affect the overall cost of electrical platform, the latest developments in this filed were reviewed, based on which a novel integrated floating method was introduced. First, by incorporating the advantages of the integrated offshore wind turbine and the installation method for suction bucket foundation, the idea of integrated floating and quick installation based on a four-bucket jacket foundation was proposed. Second, the process of integrated wet towing of the four-bucket jacket foundation was described, which was further verified via indoor model experiments and numerical simulations. Results show that under 2 m wave height and level 5 sea conditions, the proposed four-bucket jacket foundation can be wet towed and floated at a speed of 5 knots under the optimum draft depth.