Current affairs

As demand for clean energy rises, so the challenges of increasing output while maintaining stability of power supplies are mounting.

Meanwhile, with the easiest and most suitable sites for green power generation already developed, clean energy producers are turning to less accessible sites — increasing installation and maintenance costs at a time when there is pressure to reduce energy prices. As a result, researchers are investigating new technologies to combat the rise in generation costs.

In the case of wind power, producers are currently investigating building bigger offshore wind farms, both further from the coast and in deeper water. Most UK wind farm foundations are based on monopile construction where a steel tube is driven into the seabed and the wind turbine bolted on. This method becomes more difficult and more expensive as water depths increase and turbine sizes increase.

'To make offshore farms more economical we need to reduce the cost of installation,' said Michael Starling of design, engineering and risk management consultant