Participation in and results of a feasibility study of a floating offshore wind project
Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Co., Ltd (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan; President: Shigetoshi Kondo. Hereafter "SMCC") is pleased to announce that it has participated in an in-depth feasibility study for the serial fabrication and delivery of floating concrete substructures in Japan. This study was performed within the framework of a commercial-scale floating offshore wind farm using 15MW+ wind turbines co-developed by BW Ideol (Headquarters: La Ciotat, France) and a well-known Japanese partner. SMCC confirms that both construction costs and construction schedule meet the ambitious expectations of Japan's offshore wind market .
SMCC's Mid-Term Management Plan 2022-2024 sets out a policy of strengthening the promotion of businesses that contribute to the realisation of a sustainable society. SMCC have positioned floating offshore wind as a growth area with the potential to become part of the future civil engineering business and have conducted this feasibility study.
[Floating wind turbine (Floatgen) © BW Ideol /V. Joncheray]
■ Outline of the project
This comprehensive feasibility study relied Japanese guidelines and technical standards, such as the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's "Technical Standards for Floating Offshore Wind Power Facilities Safety Guidelines" and the Nippon Kaiji Kyokai's "Guidelines for Floating Offshore Wind Power Facilities", and incorporated BW Ideol's deep knowledge of international technical standards. Multiple well-respected construction and engineering companies participated in this wide-range investigative project. SMCC was responsible for the construction and delivery of the concrete floating foundations, relaying on its accumulated technology and know-how of manufacturing large concrete structures in big quantities and short construction period, that SMCC have cultivated so far such as having 7 precast concrete plants producing large amounts of concrete in a short period in the group.
In carrying out the feasibility study, SMCC has developed a thorough understanding of the serial fabrication method proposed by BW Ideol specifically, gantry slipforming, precast construction, horizontal transfer of heavy loads, launching equipment and methods and temporary storage solutions for floating foundations. SMCC successfully managed to deliver an optimized construction planning suitable for many sites and yards in Japan and consequently confirmed that this time-tested and proven serial fabrication method would enable SMCC to deliver projects on-time whilst reaching ambitious cost targets.
While Japan is a maritime country with one of the world's largest exclusive economic zones, the shallow water area less than 50m in depth that are considered suitable for fixed bottom offshore wind project are limited, and therefore floating offshore wind is considered to have enormous potential. Concrete made floater foundation can be fabricated in ports near the sea area where the floating offshore wind farm is located and are expected to have a large economic ripple effect on the region. Some projects in Europe have already started to use them.
■ Next deployment
With "Contribution to the Global Environment" as its corporate philosophy, SMCC constantly seeks to be a construction company that is friendly to people and the planet, and considers harmony between the living environment and nature to be important. SMCC's Mid-Term Management Plan 2022-2024 sets out a policy of strengthening the promotion of businesses that contribute to the realisation of a sustainable society. In addition to the existing floating solar power generation business, by actively working on renewable energy-related construction such as floating offshore wind power generation. SMCC aims to achieve both the realisation of a sustainable society and sustainable growth for our company.
■ Contact
For inquiries regarding this matter, please contact the following.
Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Co., Ltd.
Web-site: https://www.smcon.co.jp/en/
Email: Info-tech@eb.smcon.co.jp
《Reference》
About BW Ideol
Headquarters：147 Av. du Jujubier, 13600 La Ciotat, France、CEO: Paul De La Guérivière
BW Ideol is a leading fully integrated platform in floating offshore wind with more than 10 years of experience from design, execution and development of floating wind projects based on Ideol S.A.'s patented floating offshore wind technology and engineering capabilities. The company has a dual-leg growth strategy as a floater EPCI and maintenance services provider and as a wind-farm project developer and co-owner. BW Ideol has two full-scale offshore floating wind turbines in operation in France and Japan, a significant project pipeline including 1 GW under development in Scotland, and is supported by BW Offshore's extensive experience from developing and operating offshore energy production systems.
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