Offshore wind farms will employ anchored jackets down to water depths of 50 metres, after which floating foundations will be favoured. Suction caissons for wind turbines will be much lighter, but will have to stand up to extreme horizontal loads.
Suction caissons have been used for decades in oil and gas
Suction caissons have long been used as a cost-reducing anchoring technology in the offshore oil and gas industry, mainly in clay soils. Over the past 30 years, hundreds have been deployed around the world.
28 February 2012 11:21 GMT
Updated
26 November 2012 6:01 GMT
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