Success Story | Virginia Offshore Wind Technology Advancement Project

This USD 60 million project involved installation of two offshore wind turbine generators off the Virginia coast. As one of the first offshore jacket substructure wind turbine generator installations in the United States, the project will demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of offshore wind energy, particularly the savings associated with innovative foundations and substructures.

Solution

The design included the first fully coupled hydrodynamic and aerodynamic analysis for a commercial offshore wind plant in the U.S. Reliable results were achieved by pairing Bentley’s industry standard OpenWindPower software for the analysis and design of offshore fixed platforms together with DNV GL’s GH Bladed software for wind turbine design. Hydrodynamic modeling in OpenWindPower enabled the calibration of wave responses in DNV GL’s GH Bladed. This reduced risk by providing confidence in the results.

Outcome

Using fully automated multiple core simulation capabilities in the SACS Wind Turbine package reduced analysis time by more than 50%, resulting in fewer man-hours billed to the client. The ability to use OpenWindPower to post-process data from DNV GL’s GH Bladed software allowed Keystone Engineering to use the analyses performed by the wind turbine generator designers (Alstom) to design foundations and support structures with no rework.

Software

OpenWindPower was used to perform fully automated code compliance post processing, which ensured that the foundation met the relevant codes and standards.