Condition monitoring system for the first construction phase of what was then the world's largest offshore wind farm with a total output of 3.7 gigawatts.
East Anglia One (EA1) is located approx. 45 km east of Great Britain and supplies up to 600,000 households with “green” electricity. EA1 consists of 102 turbines with 7 MW output each and a rotor diameter of 154 m each. Every turbine stands on an approx. 65 m high steel framework in approx. 45 m deep water. For better illustration: The US Statue of Liberty is only half as high as a wind turbine. The foundation alone weighs 845 tons per wind turbine.
These so-called “jackets” must safely transfer the static loads and operating loads of the turbine, the wind loads and the wave loads into the sea floor over an operating period of 30 years. At the same time the jackets must be kept as slender and light as possible to enable the transport and the offshore installation. The loads and load spectrums are currently not completely known or predictable for the whole lifetime of such structures.
Therefore, VCE has developed and implemented a total concept for the condition monitoring system together with the client, the planning office for the wind park and the approval authorities to ensure the safe operation by permanent measurements and condition monitoring. For this purpose, sensors were mounted at the foundation structures and the wind turbines. The project also includes the supply and installation of the respective measurement instrumentation, the central data server and the software for the data management, the data analysis and the visualization of the results.
