In late July, BAUER Renewables Ltd., a subsidiary of BAUER Spezialtiefbau GmbH and part of the international construction and machinery manufacturing concern BAUER AG, successfully installed a drilled-in monopile foundation structure for a tidal energy turbine of the client Voith Hydro.
This took place off-shore at the test site of the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney, Scotland. An exceptional challenge was posed not only by the drilling works at a water depth of 37 metres, but also by the extremely strong currents of up to 4.5 meters per second.
BAUER Renewables Ltd. used a newly designed and built seabed drilling rig from BAUER Maschinen GmbH, which was operated from a Dynamic Positioning Vessel. The 23 metre long monopile with a diameter of 2 metres was grouted into an 11 metre deep rock socket. It will be the foundation structure for a 1 MW Tidal Turbine built and operated by Voith Hydro.
“A drilled foundation of such dimensions and under such difficult conditions has never before been executed. This new technology has captured the attention of many tidal energy developers,” says Professor Thomas Bauer, Chairman of the Management Board of BAUER Aktiengesellschaft. “This tremendous achievement marks the BAUER Group’s entry into the future growth market of marine renewable energies and broadens the Group’s range of off-shore technologies.”
About Bauer
Bauer is a provider of services, machinery and ancillary products in the earth-working and groundwater fields. The Group markets its products and services all over the world. Its global spread allows it to remain largely unaffected by fluctuating business cycles.
The operations of the Group are divided into three segments: Construction, Equipment and Resources. The Construction segment carries out specialist foundation engineering work all over the world, developing foundation and excavation projects as well as providing related construction services. In its Equipment segment, in which it is the world market leader, Bauer offers an extensive range of machinery, equipment and tools for specialist foundation engineering and related fields. The Resources segment encompasses the Group’s operations in the exploitation of raw materials, in environmental technology, in geothermal drilling operations and also in equipment for wells (including pumps and drills, screens and casings).
Bauer profits greatly from the collaboration between its three separate segments, enabling the Group to position itself as an innovative, highly specialized provider of complete solutions and services for demanding projects on the specialist foundation engineering and related markets.
[mappress] Source: bauer, August 09, 2011; Image: Voith Hydro