Financial close has been reached for two pilot wind turbines at the Deutsche Bucht Offshore Wind Farm. The project will test Mono Buckets, a new type of foundation structure, equipped with a 8.4MW turbine. In addition to its Balance of Plant contract for the wind farm, Van Oord will also be responsible for manufacturing and installing the two additional Mono Bucket foundations.Northland Deutsche Bucht announced that the Deutsche Bucht Mono Bucket pilot demonstrator project has reached financial close. Deutsche Bucht, the third North-Sea offshore wind farm to be built by Canadian power producer Northland Power, will be the first wind farm worldwide to test this new type of foundation structure under commercial operating conditions.
The Mono Bucket foundation consists of a single steel cylinder, known as a ‘suction bucket’, upon which a shaft is mounted. A transition piece and an 8.4MW wind turbine will be installed on this shaft. The suction bucket structure becomes firmly embedded in the sea floor by its own weight and vacuum pressure, eliminating the need for pile driving. The Deutsche Bucht wind farm will have a total of 33 wind turbines, 31 on monopiles and two on Mono Buckets, and a grid capacity of almost 269 MW.
