Offshore wind farms: looking to Denmark for leadership

Among the choice of renewables, wind power has obvious attractions. It is a well-developed and proven technology, its energy feedstock is free and there are zero CO2 emissions from power production. As Europe takes on the infrastructural challenge of making wind power a significant component of its future energy mix in response to renewable targets set by the EU, many countries are looking to Denmark for its unrivalled knowledge and experience, especially in offshore wind farms. And where offshore wind turbine foundations are concerned, there is one Danish company among the leaders in know-how: MT Højgaard.

Worldwide expertise

Although MT Højgaard is a relatively new company, founded in 2001, its parentage stretches back to the early 1900s when Højgaard & Schultz and Monberg & Thorsen were founded. The two companies have been involved in virtually every major construction project in Denmark and numerous projects abroad. Today, MT Højgaard is Denmark’s leading contractor with a particularly broad experience base in the technological development, casting techniques and applications of concrete and steel both in and out of water.

MT Højgaard uses knowledge and experience from Denmark to build worldwide – and brings back new experience to benefit construction projects closer to home. The company has gained its expertise in shoreline and offshore construction from the construction of numerous harbours, tunnels and bridges, from the Maldives and Lebanon to Stockholm and Central London. And not least, MT Højgaard has undertaken the vast majority of the world’s offshore wind turbine foundations.

Offshore pioneers

Air travellers flying into Copenhagen can hardly fail to notice a row of 20 wind turbines in an elegant curved line stretching into the bay outside Copenhagen Harbour. Erected in 2001, this was one of the very first wind farms of significant size to be placed in a marine environment. MT Højgaard constructed the foundations for this 40MW installation, pioneering the use of reinforced concrete monopile foundations, which still remain the most cost-effective solution for offshore wind turbine projects in sheltered areas.

The following year, MT Højgaard constructed the foundations for the first large-scale wind farm outside sheltered waters: the 80 turbine, 160MW Horns Rev wind farm 14km out into the North Sea. Since then, the company has constructed foundations for a series of major offshore wind farms including the UK’s largest wind farms to date on Kentish Flats in the North Sea and on Burbo Bank in Liverpool Bay. In the course of these projects, MT Højgaard developed a number of technical solutions that have ensured the continuing success of monopile foundations.

Meeting Europe’s need

Foundations for offshore wind farms is a core business that MT Højgaard aims to maintain and expand in the years to come. But as future wind farm locations move further offshore, new challenges will arise: greater water depths and larger wind/wave forces, more demanding seabed conditions and bigger wind turbines. To meet these challenges, innovation is a must. In order to meet Europe’s need for a renewable energy infrastructure based on wind, continued technological advances will be required to create tomorrow’s offshore wind parks. MT Højgaard is determined to be among the leaders in making it happen. Because where offshore foundations are concerned, it believes it has the know-how to succeed.

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