U.K.-based FoundOcean has entered into a contract to grout the foundations for the first offshore trial of Alstom's 6 MW Haliade 150 wind turbine.
The turbine will be located near Ostend, 45 km off the Belgian coast. FoundOcean says onshore tests at full 6 MW output were recently completed in France, and the offshore tests will target specific marine operations and procedures. Following this, Alstom plans to produce pre-series units in 2014.
John Paul O'Sullivan, engineering manager at FoundOcean, says the Haliade turbine will use a ‘tried and tested’ foundation method.
"The turbine will be housed on a four-legged jacket with pins inserted into pre-driven piles," he says, noting that FoundOcean has completed various pre-driven pile grouting projects for offshore wind farms, including the Ormonde offshore wind farm in 2010 and Thornton Bank Phases 2 and 3 in 2011.
The project, with a client specification to use Masterflow 9500 grout, will mobilize this month.