The fault was first identified at Shell's Dutch wind farm, Egmond aan Zee, and involves towers using grouting, a mixture of cement, sand and gravel, to attach the turbines to their base. It is thought to be the result of a fault in the design code of the Norwegian accreditation body, DNV, whose standards are accepted as an industry-wide quality assurance benchmark.
Danish wind farm developer, Dong Energy, which developed the Egmond aan Zee wind farm, claims it was the first company to go public with the design fault after checks revealed that it affects three of its offshore wind farms and a total of 164 turbines.
Commenting on the issue, a spokesman from Dong said: "We are looking at three possible solutions. We expect to have settled on a solution in the next four to six months. For the wind farms under construction, including London Array, we have made some design changes in relation to this issue".
RenewablesUK claim that a "large majority" of the 336 offshore wind turbines currently in operation in UK waters for example, ould potentially develop the design fault, while industry executives report that it is an industry-wide problem related to a general design and not one particular tower model.
If any repairs are necessary, RenewableUK claims they will be carried out turbine by turbine and should have no impact on the operation of the rest of the wind farm. Meanwhile, industry players are confident that the fault will not delay new projects or hit electricity production.
For its part, the DNV has confirmed that it is working with most of the leading players from the offshore wind industry to address the issue. An industry-wide project has been started to further develop the basis for a reliable and cost efficient design methodology for offshore wind turbines, says the accreditation body. According to a DNV spokesman, new solutions have already been identified as part of the project and are partly being implemented on existing wind turbines and new designs.
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