Offshore Wind Turbine Geotechnical Engineering

Dr Nobutaka Yamamoto and Carl Erbrich

It has been recognised globally that offshore wind provides a great renewable energy source throughout the world and the accumulated knowledge of offshore geotechnical engineering from oil and gas projects provide engineering analysis solutions and techniques that are often directly applicable to the offshore wind industry. However, offshore wind also involves unique challenges that have required development of some special solutions.

A unique challenge in Australian waters is the predominance of carbonate sediments which has led to many geotechnical issues over the years due to their unique characteristics. It is anticipated that offshore wind will also encounter such soils and appropriate engineering solutions will therefore be required to meet the challenges.

In this presentation several advanced geotechnical engineering techniques developed for offshore oil and gas developments will be discussed and modifications that might be necessary specifically for offshore wind are introduced, considering both carbonate and non-carbonate soil types. How these are used in the design of appropriate foundation types for offshore wind developments will also be discussed.

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