Governors' Wind Energy Coalition

Assembling offshore wind turbines and foundations entirely in a port could significantly reduce construction costs, according to a study by the University of Delaware.

The research concluded that would be possible to assemble 10MW turbines on jacket suction bucket foundations onshore before transporting to the offshore site for installation.

This method would cut average installation time from three days to 10 hours, the study said. It would also reduce the acoustic impact on marine mammals.

The project’s principal investigator Willett Kempton said: “Instead of today’s method, carrying out parts separately and individually assembling each in the ocean, we have an assembly line onshore.

“We spend more money in the port, but we spend far less money at sea.”

The five-year study was funded by the US Energy Department and carried out in cooperation with industry partners.