What is involved in building offshore wind farms?
Most developments will be installed on either gravity foundations or sited on steel monopiles. Gravity foundations are concrete structures which settle and are stabilised by sand or water and the turbine tower fits into them. Monopiles are long, steel tubes which are hammered, drilled or vibrated into the sea bed until secure and then platforms and towers are installed on top. Although it would be technically feasible to mount wind turbines on floating structures, studies have shown that it would be very expensive to do this. However, technical developments may make floating offshore wind farms economically feasible in the future.
