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Gravity foundation developed to benefit

By Peikko's blog team

April, 23, 2018

If wind parks are close to your heart, you have heard about Piteå wind park in Markbygden area, Sweden. Currently under construction, it will be the largest single onshore wind park in Europe, with a total of 1,101 operational wind turbines and an electricity production of 10 TWH – enough energy to support about 400,000 households for an entire year. Peikko delivered its gravity foundation solution for the first phase in 2017, and has now secured the second phase of 179 turbines as well. But something has changed since the first phase. The new era of gravity foundations has begun.

Peikko is the market leader in foundation solutions in the Northern Europe. However, as a forerunner we want to aim at even higher. This ambition has led us to develop our gravity foundation solution even further, and create important cost- and time-savings for the project developers. Technically, the new solution uses one of Peikko’s key technology areas: the one of headed rebar. The radial rebar is anchored to the centre area by the head of the bar. The main design focus is on the slope of the foundation, as now it is only gently sloping, improving the workability. How does this benefit our customers, then?

 

How about some time-saving?

Let’s talk about speed. One of the main hurdles in developing large wind parks is schedule. Typically, it will take 4 to 8 weeks to get a foundation design from an engineering company or a structural designer. And if there are different soil types in the area chosen for your wind park, more weeks are lost doing additional designs. Peikko has changed the game. Thanks to our new design in foundations, we can come up with a preliminary design in one day. This is the fastest way to assess the cost of a foundation.

And when it comes to the assembly at the site, we won’t let you down either. The gentle foundation slope requires less measuring than the traditional convex shape while also enabling easier and faster finishing. Where a traditional gravity foundation assembly was completed within 7 days, we can now cut it down to 6 days. Even though one day may seem like a minor detail in a wind power development project with a EUR 50–200 million price tag, slow progress in foundation design, production and assembly will postpone the day when the investment starts to generate profit.

 

Less is more

Need to save in material costs? We thought so too. With Peikko’s new gravity foundation, you can save both steel and concrete – in remarkable amounts. This is not only cost-efficient but also environmentally-friendly.

With the concept of circular economy in mind, we are developing wind turbine foundations as resistant and reliable as before – with less construction material required. Being able to reduce emissions related to material manufacturing, machinery and transportation brings Peikko to the top of the game. Wind energy is green, and so should its construction be, too. The manufacturing of foundations can be done at any of Peikko’s factories – always at the one closest to the site.

 

Peikko’s new gravity foundation has been developed with only one thing in mind – our customers. Solving your problem presents us a positive challenge that we want to take. The world – and wind turbine foundations – need forerunners.

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