The revolutionary technology promises cheaper wind turbines

Most wind turbines are called offshore monocles building. In doing so, huge steel cylinder I rammed to the bottom of the sea. The so-called transition piece is placed on the part that protrudes from the sea. Then comes the actual wind turbine on top of this.

Fusing the steels together to create a cylinder for a single piece is time consuming and expensive. A consortium of several companies has now been able to do this for the first time Electron beam welding use, which brings many advantages.

The local vacuum enables bulky components to be welded

Usually, monopiles im immersed powder process welded. Electron beam welding will be faster and cheaper here. However, it must be welded in a vacuum. However, the vacuum chamber is very expensive and offers only limited space.

So the consortium developed a new technology called flow user. This was who Cambridge Aerospace Engineering Developed, which is part of the consortium. Ebflow is based on electron beam welding. Instead of putting everything in a vacuum, the vacuum is only created around the seam being welded. This makes it possible for the first time to use electron beam welding of even the largest columns.

Welds are equivalent or better than previous methods

In January 2023, Ebflow was successfully used for single-use components for the first time. At a factory in Rotterdam, 2.75-meter seams were welded around cylinders 8 meters in diameter to get. It had a wall thickness of 67 to 85 mm.

The process and results were checked by external inspectors and the DNV regulator. Welds are rated at least as good as, if not better than, typical submerged arc welds. One of the resulting cylinders became part of a transitional piece. This should be available in English by the end of 2023 Dogger’s Bank wind farm to be installed.

Faster, cheaper and cleaner

According to the consortium, at least monoblocks could be built using Ebflow in the future 25 times faster Welded by submerged arc process. with Ebflow 90% less energy consumer. The cost will be about 88 percent reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 97 percent.

In England it is currently used more than 90 percent Monopiles of offshore wind turbines. With Ebflow, wind farms can be built faster and at a lower cost. According to the consortium, this should help speed up the energy transition. In addition, offshore wind farm builders will have the option to pass the saved costs on to their customers – what to do Low electricity prices can lead.