TELESCOPIC TOWER FACILITATING INSTALLATION OF ≥12 MW

OFFSHORE WIND TURBINES

Dissertation in partial fulfillment of the course

WIND POWER - BACHELOR THESIS

IN WIND POWER PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Uppsala University
Department of Earth Sciences, Campus Gotland

Per Martin Pettersson

Contact info: [email protected]

[27.05.2020]
 TELESCOPIC TOWER FACILITATING INSTALLATION OF ≥12 MW

OFFSHORE WIND TURBINES

Dissertation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

WIND POWER - BACHELOR THESIS IN

WIND POWER PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Uppsala University
Department of Earth Sciences, Campus Gotland

Approved by:

Supervisor, Professor Jens Nørkær Sørensen, Department of Wind Energy at the

Technical University of Denmark

Examiner, Dr Heracles Polatidis, Associate Professor of Energy Technology at the

Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University Campus Gotland.

27.05.2020
 iii

ABSTRACT

The trend of offshore wind power is bigger and bigger wind turbines. Turbines are now
becoming so big that existing installation vessels no longer are feasible and new bigger
installation vessels are needed. Ship owners hesitate to order new vessels worried that the
rapid turbine growth will continue and make also the new vessels obsolete in a few years.
This can create a bottleneck in the offshore wind market.

This thesis assignment attempts to develop a telescopic tower as an alternative way of

installing offshore wind turbines. A telescopic tower can decrease overall height and COG
during marine installation, giving opportunity to install the largest wind turbines also with
existing vessel fleet.

The method for developing the telescopic tower is to first find the main problems and
functions of the concept. A design basis based on a 12 MW reference wind turbine is
developed. Based on this reference turbine different solutions to the main problems and
functions are developed by creative thinking, literature research, modelling, calculations
and analysis. A cost/benefit analysis is performed to investigate if there is any economic
potential in the developed solution. To complete the study other installation methods and
telescopic tower concepts are investigated for benchmark comparison.

The telescopic tower will have two sections. Shoulders are welded to the inner wall of the
lower tower. The upper tower fit inside the lower tower and a telescopic mechanism is
installed below to lift the assembly as the mechanism climb the shoulders of the lower
tower. The telescopic mechanism works much like a pin and hole mechanism used for
jack-up rigs. The pins engage/disengage with the shoulders by the movement of linear
actuators. The vertical climbing motion is provided by hydraulic cylinders. The power
source is an HPU placed on the wind turbine external platform.
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To connect the upper and lower tower permanently a friction connection with long slotted
holes is used. This connection is developed for assembly of onshore towers in an EU-
sponsored project called Histwin. The walls of the lower and the upper tower overlap at
the connection and are pressed together by pretensioned bolts to create a friction surface
that hold the loads from the upper tower.

The conclusion is that the telescopic tower is technically feasible and can be installed by
the existing installation vessel fleet. The economic feasibility is dependent on the specific
project characteristics, but there are scenarios where the telescopic tower can have great
economical upside.

Keywords: Installation of Offshore Wind Turbines, Telescopic Tower, Pin and Hole
Jacking System, Friction Connection
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank my supervisor Professor Jens Nørkær Sørensen for good support and
help during the thesis project.

Thanks also go to my wife and two daughters that have put up with me spending time on
this project.
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NOMENCLATURE

BOP Balance of Plant

CAPEX Capital Expenditure
COG Centre of Gravity
CPU Central Processing Unit
CTV Crew Transfer Vessel
DLC Design Load Case
DTU Technical University of Denmark
EDC Extreme Directional Change
EOG Extreme Operating Gust
ETM Extreme Turbulence Model
EWS Extreme Wind Shear
FEA Finite Element Analysis
FLS Fatigue Limit State
HLCV Heavy Lift Crane Vessel
HMI Human Machine Interface
HPU Hydraulic Power Unit
LCOE Levelized Cost of Energy
MEL Master Equipment List
NDT Non-Destructive Testing
NTM Normal Turbulence Model
NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology
O&M Operation and Maintenance
PMSG Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator
PSV Pressure Safety Valve
SLS Serviceability Limit State
SOV Service Operation Vessel
SSCV Semi-Submersible Crane Vessel
TCB Tension Control Bolt
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TMD Tuned Mass Damper

ULS Ultimate Limit State
VIV Vortex Induced Vibration
 viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... v
NOMENCLATURE ..........................................................................................................vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................... viii
LIST OF FIGURES ..........................................................................................................xii
LIST OF TABLES ..........................................................................................................xvi
1 CHAPTER: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 1
1.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1
1.2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ................................................................................. 3
1.3 DELIMITATION ................................................................................................ 3
1.4 STRUCTURE AND CONTENT......................................................................... 4
2 CHAPTER: LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................... 5
2.1 12 MW Wind turbines ......................................................................................... 5
2.1.1 Economy of scale, why bigger is better ....................................................... 5
2.1.2 The largest turbine available today .............................................................. 5
2.2 Offshore wind turbine installation methods ........................................................ 9
2.2.1 Jack-up installation vessels .......................................................................... 9
2.2.2 Heavy Lift Crane Vessel (HLCV) .............................................................. 13
2.2.3 Semi-Submersible Crane Vessel (SSCV) .................................................. 14
2.2.4 Methods not using a crane for installation of wind turbine onto the
foundation ................................................................................................................. 15
2.2.5 Installation from key side ........................................................................... 16
2.3 Telescopic installation reference/competing projects ........................................ 17
2.3.1 The “Elisa Technology” ............................................................................. 17
2.3.2 Telescopic turbine using a rack & pinion system integrated with a gravity
foundation ................................................................................................................. 22
2.3.3 Relevant patents ......................................................................................... 22
2.4 Offshore wind turbine tower design .................................................................. 26
2.4.1 Main function ............................................................................................. 26
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2.4.2 Tower types ................................................................................................ 26

2.4.3 Design loads for a wind turbine tower ....................................................... 28
2.4.4 Tower section connection........................................................................... 31
3 CHAPTER: METHODOLOGY AND DATA ......................................................... 37
3.1 Presentation of the thesis ................................................................................... 37
3.2 Data Sources ...................................................................................................... 37
3.3 Mathematical modelling .................................................................................... 38
3.4 Model/visualization ........................................................................................... 39
3.5 Design Basis ...................................................................................................... 40
3.5.1 Concept criteria .......................................................................................... 40
3.5.2 Main functions............................................................................................ 40
3.5.3 Governing regulations ................................................................................ 41
3.5.4 Tower dimensions ...................................................................................... 42
3.5.5 Loads on the telescopic mechanism ........................................................... 44
3.5.6 Loads on the connection between upper and lower tower ......................... 47
3.5.7 Vessels relevant for ≥12 MW turbines with telescopic tower.................... 47
4 CHAPTER: APPLICATION OF THE METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS ......... 51
4.1 Concept description telescopic mechanism ....................................................... 51
4.1.1 Telescopic mechanism overview ............................................................... 53
4.1.2 Hydraulic system overview ........................................................................ 54
4.1.3 Functional description of telescopic mechanism........................................ 55
4.1.4 Details of telescopic mechanism components ............................................ 56
4.1.5 Details of hydraulic system components .................................................... 65
4.2 Concept description friction connection ............................................................ 68
4.2.1 Friction connection overview ..................................................................... 68
4.2.2 Friction connection calculation .................................................................. 70
4.3 Changes to tower design .................................................................................... 71
4.3.1 Tower design changes to facilitate the telescopic tower ............................ 71
4.3.2 Service lift .................................................................................................. 73
4.3.3 Ladders ....................................................................................................... 74
4.3.4 Access platforms ........................................................................................ 75
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4.3.5 Lighting ...................................................................................................... 75

4.3.6 Cable routing .............................................................................................. 76
4.3.7 Material handling inside tower ................................................................... 77
4.3.8 External platform and crane ....................................................................... 77
4.4 Installation ......................................................................................................... 78
4.4.1 Assembly of telescopic tower at shore ....................................................... 78
4.4.2 Sea transport ............................................................................................... 80
4.4.3 Lift/mating with foundation ....................................................................... 80
4.4.4 Erection ...................................................................................................... 82
4.4.5 Dismantling the telescopic mechanism ...................................................... 83
4.4.6 Alternative installation with floating crane vessel ..................................... 83
4.5 Business case of telescopic tower installation ................................................... 84
4.5.1 Use of smaller/cheaper/more available installation vessels technical
feasibility................................................................................................................... 84
4.5.2 Use of smaller/cheaper/more available installation vessels economic
feasibility................................................................................................................... 85
4.5.3 Charter rate difference between 2nd and 4th generation installation vessels
87
4.5.4 Extend life of installation vessels ............................................................... 90
4.5.5 Extra revenues from increased power production ...................................... 90
4.5.6 Cost of the telescopic mechanism .............................................................. 91
4.5.7 Economic scenario for a typical project size .............................................. 92
5 CHAPTER: DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS ........................................................ 93
5.1 Benefits of the telescopic tower concept ........................................................... 93
5.2 Down sides of the telescopic tower concept ...................................................... 94
5.3 Fulfillment of telescopic tower concept criteria ................................................ 94
5.4 Comparison telescopic tower with competing concepts.................................... 96
5.4.1 Conventional installation with 4th generation installation vessels ............. 96
5.4.2 Elisa technology ......................................................................................... 96
5.4.3 Rack and pinion concept ............................................................................ 98
5.4.4 Other pin and hole concepts ....................................................................... 98
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5.4.5 Other telescopic tower concepts ............................................................... 100

5.5 Stakeholder analysis ........................................................................................ 100
5.6 Summaries the uncertainties in the assessments and calculations ................... 102
6 CHAPTER: CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................ 103
6.1 Further research ............................................................................................... 104
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 105
APPENDIX A Inventory of installation vessels ............................................................ 116
APPENDIX B Tower dimensions .................................................................................. 116
APPENDIX C Gravity loads due to eccentric COG ...................................................... 116
APPENDIX D Wind loads at installation ...................................................................... 116
APPENDIX E Design load cases for connection of tower section ................................ 116
APPENDIX F1 Calculation of friction connection ........................................................ 116
APPENDIX F2 Histwin Excel Tool Calculation of friction connection ....................... 116
APPENDIX G Calculation of hydraulic system ............................................................ 116
APPENDIX H Master Equipment List .......................................................................... 116
APPENDIX I 3D animation of telescopic erection ........................................................ 116
APPENDIX J 2D animation of telescopic tower onshore assembly, transportation and
installation ...................................................................................................................... 116
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LIST OF FIGURES

Page
Figure 1 Upper: full height wind turbine, Lower: telescopic tower wind turbine before it
is erected. ............................................................................................................................ 2
Figure 2 World’s largest wind turbine GE Renewable Energy Haliade-X 12 MW (GE
Renewable Energy, n.d.) .................................................................................................... 6
Figure 3 Dimensions and COG estimation of the Haliade-X 12 MW nacelle and hub
(Noon, 2019) ...................................................................................................................... 6
Figure 4 Dimension of Haliade-X 12 MW blade (LM Wind Power, n.d.) ........................ 7
Figure 5 Overall dimensions of a Haliade X 12 MW wind turbine ................................... 8
Figure 6 Jack-up vessel generations (Ulstein, 2019)........................................................ 10
Figure 7 Pin and Hole jacking system (Fluid Power Journal, 2013) ................................ 11
Figure 8 Rack and Pinion jacking system (Kennedy, Chen, Chan, & Ådnanes, n.d.) ..... 12
Figure 9 HLCV Rambiz used to install an assembled wind turbine onto a foundation
(Huisman, p. 2) ................................................................................................................. 13
Figure 10 Hywind Scotland wind turbine mating with foundation at Stord using Saipem
7000 (Saipem, n.d.) .......................................................................................................... 14
Figure 11 Ulstein Windlifter system (Ulstein, n.d.) ......................................................... 15
Figure 12 Wind Turbine Shuttle (Huisman, p. 14) .......................................................... 15
Figure 13 Floatgen project wind turbine installation from shore (Wind Europe, 2017) .. 16
Figure 14 Elisa Technology by Esteyco installed outside the Canary Islands (Elisa
Technology by Esteyco, 2018) ......................................................................................... 17
Figure 15 Installation sequence of the Elisa technology (Esteyco, n.d.).......................... 18
Figure 16 Strand jack lifting method and mating of tower sections for the Elisa
technology (Mendizábal, Ramón López, 2015, p. 5) ...................................................... 19
Figure 17 Strand Jacks arrangement Elisa technology, side view (Elisa Technology by
Esteyco, 2018) .................................................................................................................. 19
Figure 18 Strand Jacks arrangement Elisa technology, top view (Elisa Technology by
Esteyco, 2018) .................................................................................................................. 20
Figure 19 Mammoet Strand jacks (Mammoet, 2015) ...................................................... 20
Figure 20 Tower seen from the inside, Elisa technology (Serna, 2016) ......................... 21
Figure 21 Tower seen from the outside, Elisa technology (Esteyco, n.d.) ..................... 21
Figure 22 Tower section before assembly, Elisa technology (Elisa Technology by
Esteyco, 2018) .................................................................................................................. 21
Figure 23 Rack and pinion telescopic mechanism designed by Pavel Korovkin
(Korovkin, 2012, pp. 68, 97) ............................................................................................ 22
Figure 24 Telescopic mechanism and tower connection of patent WO2007125138A1
(World Patent No. WO2007125138A1, 2012, p. 17)....................................................... 23
Figure 25 Telescopic mechanism of patent WO2016001942A9 (World Patent No.
WO2016001942A9, 2017, p. 26) ..................................................................................... 24
Figure 26 Permanent connection between upper and lower tower of patent
WO2016001942A9 (World Patent No. WO2016001942A9, 2017, pp. 23-24) ............... 25
 xiii

Figure 27 Natural frequencies of wind turbine tower and frequencies of exiting forces.
(Bouzid, Bhattacharya, & Ostmane, 2018) ...................................................................... 29
Figure 28 Bolted Ring Flange Connection (L-Flange) (Veljkovic & Husson, Elforsk
rapport: 09:11 High-strength wind turbine steel towers, 2009, p. 3) ............................... 31
Figure 29 Prying forces in a flanged tower connection (Veljkovic, et al., 2011, p. 286) 32
Figure 30 Assembly of friction connection (Veljkovic M. , et al., 2012, p. 5) ................ 33
Figure 31 Friction Connection overview (Veljkovic M. , et al., 2012, p. 5) .................... 33
Figure 32 Description of friction surfaces (Veljkovic M. , et al., 2015, p. 76) ................ 34
Figure 33 Tension control bolt parts (Veljkovic & Husson, Elforsk rapport: 09:11 High-
strength wind turbine steel towers, 2009, p. 5) ................................................................ 34
Figure 34 Tension control bolt torqueing procedure, a) Inner part of shear wrench hold
bolt stationary and the outer part of the shear wrench torque the nut, b) the inner part of
the shear wrench can turn off the spline after the bolt is installed and pretensioned
(Veljkovic & Husson, Elforsk rapport: 09:11 High-strength wind turbine steel towers,
2009, p. 5)......................................................................................................................... 34
Figure 35 Buckling check of fingers with different free finger length (Heistermann,
2014, p. 97)....................................................................................................................... 35
Figure 36 Calculation of tower geometry......................................................................... 43
Figure 37 Illustration of effect on horizontal COG depending on wind turbine tilt ........ 45
Figure 38 Load share rotor/back side of wind turbine as function of tilt (tilt towards rotor
side is positive) ................................................................................................................. 45
Figure 39 Taillevent – Offshore Jack-up Installation Vessel (Jan De Nul, 2019) ........... 49
Figure 40 Gulliver (Jan De Nul, n.d.) .............................................................................. 50
Figure 41 3D model of 12 MW wind turbine in retracted position.................................. 51
Figure 42 Telescopic mechanism inside tower (hydraulic pin and hole jacking
mechanism) ...................................................................................................................... 52
Figure 43 Telescopic mechanism overview ..................................................................... 53
Figure 44 Hydraulic system overview ............................................................................. 54
Figure 45 Climb sequence of the telescopic mechanism ................................................. 55
Figure 46 Typical geometry and weld between shoulder and shell (Dassault Systemes,
2019)................................................................................................................................. 56
Figure 47 Equivalent (von-Mises) Stress on uppermost shoulders at design load 4,8
MN/shoulder, upper picture showing all 4 shoulder on the rotor side, lower picture is
zoomed into the second shoulder from the left. (Ansys, 2019)........................................ 57
Figure 48 Total deformation on uppermost shoulders at design load 4,8 MN/shoulder,
upper picture showing all 4 shoulder on the rotor side, lower picture is zoomed into the
second shoulder from the left. (Ansys, 2019) .................................................................. 58
Figure 49 Tower shell dent tolerances (DNV, 2014, p. 179) .......................................... 59
Figure 50 Upper picture show the pin in retracted position allowing the telescopic
mechanism to pass the shoulder in vertical direction, lower picture show the pin in
extended position when it is engaged with the shoulder to lift the upper tower. ............. 60
Figure 51 Forces and moment acting on the Pin .............................................................. 61
Figure 52 Pin for the back side of the telescopic mechanism with additional grip to take
upwards pointing loads from tower turnover moment. .................................................... 61
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Figure 53 Hydraulic heavy-duty linear actuator (Suthar, 2018) ...................................... 62

Figure 54 Upper tower support in magenta ...................................................................... 63
Figure 55 Rotational guide for telescopic mechanism, rail attached to lower tower in
green. ................................................................................................................................ 64
Figure 56 Enerpac RR20048 Hydraulic Cylinder (Enerpac) ........................................... 65
Figure 57 Typical HPU for the telescopic mechanism (ACE Winches, n.d.) .................. 66
Figure 58 Hydraulic oil cooler (CCS Oil coolers, 2018) ................................................. 67
Figure 59 Sequence of assembly of friction connection for telescopic tower.................. 69
Figure 60 Telescopic mechanism at upper elevation. A) point on the lower tower being
cylindrical and not coned, B) show that the lower tower needs to be coned at the top for
the upper tower to pass the shoulders and make the friction surfaces of the connection to
mate, C) show how the telescopic mechanism stand on the shoulders of the cylindrical
part of the lower tower when it is at its highest elevation, D) show that the uppermost
part of the lower tower need to be extended to cover the open slotted holes in the upper
tower. ................................................................................................................................ 72
Figure 61 Turbine Service Lift (Power Climber Wind) ................................................... 73
Figure 62 Cut of telescopic wind turbine tower in retracted position showing service lift
arrangement ...................................................................................................................... 74
Figure 63 A: Ladder for lower tower folded in close so it fit in the gap X between the
lower tower and upper tower walls. B: Ladder for lower tower folded out after the upper
tower is at full height. C: Ladder for upper tower is fixed. .............................................. 75
Figure 64 SOHL cable-management system (Dvorak, 2017) .......................................... 76
Figure 65 External platform and crane for an offshore wind turbine (Sparrows, n.d.) .... 77
Figure 66 (1) Telescopic mechanism installation (optionally installed piece by piece
offshore), (2) Upper tower section 1 installation (3) Lower tower installation (4) Upper
tower section 2 installation (5) Tower final assembly (6) Tower onshore test (7) Tower
collection by installation vessel........................................................................................ 79
Figure 67 Liebherr LR11000 Crawler Crane (Liebherr, 2015) ....................................... 80
Figure 68 Offshore installation of a telescopic tower with a jack-up installation vessel . 81
Figure 69 Nacelle and blade installation of a telescopic tower with a jack-up installation
vessel ................................................................................................................................ 81
Figure 70 CTV Attender accessing an offshore turbine (Offshorewind.biz, n.d.) ........... 82
Figure 71 Left: Installation of full height 12 MW wind turbine with Gulliver, the COG is
higher than crane and the lift will be unstable. Right: Installation of retracted telescopic
tower for a 12 MW wind turbine with Gulliver, the COG is lower than crane and the lift
is stable. ............................................................................................................................ 83
Figure 72 Voltaire, Vole au vent, Taillevent (Jan De Nul, 2019) .................................... 84
Figure 73 12 MW telescopic tower lifted onto foundation and nacelle/blades installed on
top by Taillevent............................................................................................................... 85
Figure 74 Global demand for jack up vessels set to rise until 2028 (Naschert, 2019) ..... 86
Figure 75 Current status of large installation vessels (Naschert, 2019) ........................... 86
Figure 76 Estimated jack-up installation vessel charter rates 2nd and 3rd generation
installation vessels (Dalgic, Lazakis, & Turan) ............................................................... 87
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Figure 77 Estimated Jack-up Vessel Charter Rates interpolated to include 4th generation
vessels............................................................................................................................... 88
Figure 78 Installation days per turbine (Lacal-Arantegui, Yusta, & Domingues-Navarro,
2018)................................................................................................................................. 89
Figure 79 Market info on foundation types used for offshore wind (US Department of
Energy - Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, 2019, p. 45) ..................... 97
Figure 80 Ashes software (Simis, 2019) ............................................................................ 2
Figure 81 Loads acting on the friction connection (RFCS HISTWIN+ project, 2015) ..... 3
Figure 82 Default values of the first design check of the HISTWIN Excel Tool .............. 2
Figure 83 Friction connection slotted hole with different length and slots also in lower
tower wall to create flexibility for assembly tolerances but also give strength for
buckling. ............................................................................................................................. 5
Figure 84 miniBooster HC6D (miniBooster, n.d.) ............................................................. 3
Figure 85 Nomogram for hydraulic hose sizing (Parker, p. 3) .......................................... 4
Figure 86 Hose Flow Capacities Pressure Drop (Parker, p. 4) .......................................... 5
Figure 87 HPU for the telescopic mechanism (ACE Winches, n.d.) ................................. 6
Figure 88 Hydraulic hose (TESS, n.d.) .............................................................................. 8
Figure 89 Temperature rise (The Lee Company, 2019) ..................................................... 9
Figure 90 Capacity calculation for oil cooler (CCS Oil coolers, n.d.) ............................. 10
Figure 91 Data sheet for H50 oil cooler (CCS Oil coolers, n.d.) ..................................... 11
Figure 92 Oil cooler specifications (CCS Oil coolers, 2018) .......................................... 12
Figure 93 Oil cooler drawing (CCS Oil coolers, 2018) ................................................... 13
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LIST OF TABLES

Page
Table 1 Data on Haliade-X 12 MW wind turbine 7
Table 2 Software used in the thesis assignment 39
Table 3 Main specification Taillevent (Jan De Nul, 2019) 49
Table 4 Main specification Gulliver (Jan De Nul, n.d.) 50
Table 5 Size of friction connection 70
Table 6 Tower section weight and height 78
Table 7 Load cases analyzed for design of friction connection 1
Table 8 Summary of Design Load Cases element 23 at the location of the connection
between upper and lower tower. 3
Table 9 Summary of Design Load Cases element 23 2
Table 10 Sizing of friction connection 3
Table 11 Time study for smaller or larger TCB bolts 3
Table 12 Size of the friction connection 5
Table 13 Enerpac RR-Series, Double-Acting Cylinders with long stroke length
(Enerpac) 1
Table 14 Master Equipment List for Telescopic Mechanism (argumentation and
references for cost and weight can be found below the table. 2
 1

1 CHAPTER: INTRODUCTION

1.1 INTRODUCTION

The future of offshore wind power is bigger and bigger wind turbines. These wind turbines
will have the benefits of increased energy potential per installed unit and decreased cost
per energy unit produced compared to older and smaller wind turbines. (Hjuler Jensen, et
al., 2017, p. 17)

The wind turbines even getting so big that they get limited by the installation methods
available (Petche & Kellner, 2018). Representatives for GE Renewable Energy says the
following words on designing the world’s biggest wind turbine so far, the Haliade-X 12
MW wind turbine:

Vincent Schellings, leader of the Haliade-X development team says: “If you go too big,
you may generate more energy, but the tools and technology may not exist to transport
and install your turbines in a cost-effective way. Potentially, your access to the market
would be dramatically reduced,” (Petche & Kellner, 2018)

Daniel Castell, Industrial Engineer at the Haliade-X team says: “We are right at a point
where we’re reaching the cranes’ limits,” (Petche & Kellner, 2018)

Installation vessels capable of installing ≥12 MW offshore wind turbines have been
designed and a few are under construction (Naschert, 2019). But since the wind turbine
development is so rapid the shipowners hesitate to order new vessels worried that the
rapid turbine growth will continue and make the new vessels obsolete in a few years, this
part of the supply chain might therefore be a bottleneck in future wind power
developments (Paulsson, Hodges, & Martin, 2019). Because of the lower LCOE of
bigger wind turbines, wind power developers will not install smaller turbines than the
biggest ones available (US Department of Energy - Office of Energy Efficiency &
Renewable Energy, 2019, p. 42). This can create and unbalanced supply and demand on
the limited supply of new generation installation vessels.

To keep up with the wind turbine development the installation methods might have to “Do
it differently - by innovating for the future” as DNVGL describe in its “Offshore wind: a
manifesto for cost reduction” (DNVGL, 2014). This thesis assignment is an attempt to
develop an alternative way of solving the installation issue by investigating if there is
potential, both technical and economical, in making the tower telescopic for installation
of ≥12 MW offshore wind turbines. A telescopic tower can decrease overall height and
COG during the marine installation phase as shown in Figure 1 on the next page, which
could ease installation of the largest wind turbines, potentially even with use of existing
installation vessels. It might also be benefits with a telescopic tower for installation of
floating foundations.
 2

Figure 1 Upper: full height wind turbine, Lower: telescopic tower wind turbine before it is erected.
 3

1.2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The questions to answer in this thesis assignment are:

1. Is there a technical solution for elevating the upper part of the tower to full height
after the tower is installed onto the foundation?

2. Is there a technical solution for assembly of the upper tower to the lower tower
permanently after telescopic erection?

3. What are the benefits of a telescopic tower?

4. What are the challenges of a telescopic tower?

5. Will a telescopic tower have economic benefits?

1.3 DELIMITATION

The greatest potential for a telescopic tower installation method will be in the offshore
market. It is assumed that the ≥12 MW wind turbines will be too large for most onshore
sites. The focus will therefore be to develop the technology and method for offshore sites.
The telescopic tower installation method could be beneficial for bottom fixed wind
turbines if larger wind turbines can be installed than otherwise possible or if
smaller/cheaper/more available installation vessels can be used. For wind turbines on
floating foundations, the telescopic tower could be beneficial both when performing tower
and foundation mating and when towing to the offshore site.

The technology and method are developed to suite a conventional tubular steel tower
design, but other tower constructions could also be fitted with the telescopic function.

The primary focus will be to use the telescopic function for installation purposes, but it
could also provide potential additional benefits that will be discussed.

The thesis assignment shall show potential and feasibility of the telescopic tower concept
and the work will not go into detailed design or detailed cost evaluations. Because the
level of detail is low assumptions and simplifications will be made for the design,
calculations and analysis. Where numbers are used in technical and economic analyses
they shall be regarded as “ballpark-figures” to indicate magnitudes.
 4

1.4 STRUCTURE AND CONTENT

Chapter 2 contains the literature review that is used to back-up the concept development
and the analysis performed to answer the research questions.

This chapter start with an explanation why bigger is better when it comes to offshore wind
turbines. It is also important for the reader to understand the immense scale of a 12 MW
wind turbine, so the GE Haliade-X 12 MW wind turbine is described. Approximate data
of this wind turbine is used as design basis for the telescopic tower in this thesis
assignment.

The chapter will also treat available offshore wind turbine installation methods to map if
the telescopic tower can allow use of smaller and less expensive installations vessels
compared to conventional installation methods.

Since the scope of this thesis assignment is a product development project the literature
review will also be about benchmarking other similar concepts.

Possibilities and constraints regarding the design, manufacturing, construction and

installation of the tower is key to the development of the telescopic tower so a brief theory
section on this topic is also included.

Chapter 3 describe the method used for answering the research questions. For this product
development project this chapter will also contain the concept evaluation criteria and
description of the sub-functions that need to be solved for a telescopic tower. This chapter
will also describe the design basis data used for designing the telescopic mechanism and
the friction connection.

Chapter 4 detail the telescopic tower concept. This chapter will also describe the design
assumptions and design calculations performed. The chapter will also include the
economic analysis of the telescopic tower compared to conventional installation methods.

Chapter 5 discuss the concept, with analysis and evaluations. Comparison to conventional
wind turbine installation methods and other concurrent designs will be performed.

Chapter 6 will conclude if the result of the thesis assignment answers the research
questions. The limitation of the thesis assignment will be treated and proposals for further
research suggested.
 5

2 CHAPTER: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 12 MW Wind turbines

2.1.1 Economy of scale, why bigger is better

The current trend is that offshore wind turbines get bigger in size and power rating. Bigger
wind turbines decrease the LCOE (Hjuler Jensen, et al., 2017, pp. 16-17).

There are two ways to decrease LCOE, either the energy production is increased, and/or
the cost is decreased. The energy production increase with bigger wind turbines since their
rotor cover a bigger area that can capture more energy from the wind. A higher wind
turbine is also exposed to stronger and more steady winds since wind speed generally
increase with height above ground due to wind shear. (Roberts, 2019). There is also
potential for an increased park capacity factor since the wake effect decrease with bigger
but fewer turbines (Hjuler Jensen, et al., 2017, p. 19). The reduction in cost per energy-
unit for bigger wind turbines comes from different effects. Lower BOP can be achieved
since the number of support structures and number of installation operations decrease. It
will for example be cheaper to install one foundation and one array cable for one 12 MW
wind turbine compared to two foundation and two array cable for two 6 MW wind turbines
since the installation operation is performed only one time. Fewer units will also decrease
operation and maintenance cost since less offshore logistics is required, this also have
positive effect on wind turbine availability. (US Department of Energy - Office of Energy
Efficiency & Renewable Energy, 2019, p. 42)

It has earlier been thought that turbine cost increase with increased power rating by a factor
of p3/2 and that the BOP cost increase with a factor of p1 (where p is nominal power ratio).
But these factors seem no longer to be representative since considerable savings come
from experience, technological innovations and more efficient methods making bigger
turbines possible without increasing CAPEX/MW. (Hjuler Jensen, et al., 2017, p. 16)

2.1.2 The largest turbine available today

The technology and method developed in this thesis assignment are independent of wind
turbine brand/model. But since size is important for the LCOE the largest wind turbine
available today is used as the reference wind turbine. Per February 2020 it is the Haliade-
X 12 MW by GE Renewable Energy that is the leader with a prototype installation of one
wind turbine installed at the Port of Rotterdam (Durakovic, Haliade X- 12 MW Nacelle
Towers Over Rotterdam Port, 2019). GE Renewable Energy have only provided general
data online for the Haliade-X 12 MW (as the data presented in Figure 2). With the use of
this data, published pictures/videos (Figure 3 giving the approximate COG of the nacelle
and Figure 4 giving approximate blade geometry), generalized data for a reference 12 MW
wind turbine have been developed as design basis for the telescopic tower.
 6

Figure 2 World’s largest wind turbine GE Renewable Energy Haliade-X 12 MW (GE Renewable Energy, n.d.)

Figure 3 Dimensions and COG estimation of the Haliade-X 12 MW nacelle and hub (Noon, 2019)
 7

Figure 4 Dimension of Haliade-X 12 MW blade (LM Wind Power, n.d.)

Table 1 Data on Haliade-X 12 MW wind turbine

Description Unit Measurement Reference

Rating MW 12 (GE Renewable Energy, n.d.)
Wind Class IEC 1B (GE Renewable Energy, n.d.)
Total height m 250 (GE Renewable Energy, n.d.)
Hub height m ~143 Calculated
Nacelle + Hub size LxBxH 20,6x11x10,4 (Vries, 2019)
in m
Nacelle + Hub weight T 713 (Heavy Lift News, 2019)
Nacelle + Hub COG LxBxH 3x5,5x5,2 Measured from picture (Noon,
Reference point is center in m 2019), see Figure 3
of tower with positive
axis up and towards
rotor
Blade size LxD in 107x6,6 (GE Renewable Energy, n.d.)
m Measured from picture (Noon,
2019), see Figure 3
Blade weight T 55 (Vries, 2019)
Tower height m 111 (Petche & Kellner, 2018)
Tower diameter upper m 5,5 (Vries, 2019)
Tower diameter lower m 8 (Vries, 2019)
Tower weight T 800 (Petche & Kellner, 2018)
Rotor speed Rpm 7,81 (Vries, 2019)

The data above is summarized into Figure 5 below

 8

Figure 5 Overall dimensions of a Haliade X 12 MW wind turbine

 9

2.2 Offshore wind turbine installation methods

As said in earlier chapters wind turbine manufacturers develop bigger and bigger
machines. But the fleet of installation vessels used to install current generation wind
turbines will not be big enough to install the next generation wind turbines. Installing a
≥12 MW wind turbine at an offshore site will require bigger installation vessels with taller
and stronger cranes or other innovative solutions. The shipowners are not able to decide
how big installation vessels will be needed in the future. They are therefore indecisive to
put new installation vessels in production since the new vessel should have an economic
lifetime of at least 20 years. The potential shortage of large installation vessels can create
a bottleneck in the wind power industry in the coming years since all wind power
developers want to use the biggest available turbines to keep LCOE down. Supply and
demand can therefore be very unbalanced for the largest installation vessels which create
high rates, planning risks and delayed/postponed projects. (Paulsson, Hodges, & Martin,
2019)

The most common way to install an offshore wind turbine on a bottom fixed foundation
is to ship the major components (tower, nacelle, hub and blades) and install them piece by
piece onto the pre-installed foundation at the offshore wind farm site. The tower sections
are assembled onshore and transported to the offshore site in vertical position.
(BVG Associates, 2019, p. 97)

Another method is to assemble the wind turbine completely at an onshore site. The whole
wind turbine is then transported and lifted for assembly onto the foundation. This method
decreases the number of offshore mating operations and the wind turbine can be tested
onshore. But the method is most applicable to gravity-based foundations or floating
foundations where the turbine/foundation assembly can be performed near shore and the
complete turbine/foundation assembly is floated to the offshore site. (BVG Associates,
2019, p. 97)

2.2.1 Jack-up installation vessels

The most used installation method for offshore wind projects is to use a self-propelled
jack-up installation vessel (jack-up barge tugged by boats is a similar concept but not as
widely used). The installation vessel floats during sea-transport but before the heavy lift
operation starts the 4-6 legs are lowered to the seabed. Once the spud-cans on the legs is
firmly planted in the seabed the platform elevates above the sea surface so that the platform
movement is minimal during lifting operations. The installation vessel needs to have a
crane with lifting capacity and reach to install the nacelle and blades on top of the tower.
It also needs to have deck area and load bearing capacity to store components for several
turbines, both during transport and during jack-up operation. For the wind turbine parts to
be safely transported they needs to be sea fastened to the installation vessel. The
installation vessel also needs to have a dynamic positioning system so it can keep in
accurate position during jacking operation. Since the wind turbine installation operation
is an expensive and time critical activity it is important that the installation vessel have
 10

fast traveling and jacking speed. The installation vessels will have accommodation
facilities for the crew. All the features mentioned above is important factors to consider
for getting the optimal vessel for each project. (BVG Associates, 2019, pp. 97-99)

The jack-up installation vessels are divided into generations depending on their capacity
and year of construction (Ulstein, 2019) a typical categorization can be seen in Figure 6.
As wind turbines have increased in size and offshore wind sites have been moved longer
from shore and to deeper sea areas the installation vessels have increased in size and
capacity.

Figure 6 Jack-up vessel generations (Ulstein, 2019)

With a nacelle weight of 713 tons (without blades) for a Haliade-X 12 MW wind turbine
(Heavy Lift News, 2019) and a hub height of ~150 m above the sea surface, many of the
currently available jack-up vessel cranes will not be able to lift the nacelle up to the top of
the tower. Only the biggest installations vessels will be designed for ≥12 MW full height
wind turbines.

An inventory of existing and future vessels can be found in APPENDIX A Inventory of

installation vessels

The jack-up installation vessels described use either a Pin and Hole jacking system or a
Rack and Pinion jacking system for the movement of the legs to elevate the platform.

2.2.1.1 Pin and Hole jacking system

The Pin and Hole jacking system climbs the platform leg with two sets of yokes that
surrounds each leg as seen in Figure 7. Each yoke has pins that can be moved radially
and these fit holes in the legs. For a continuous jacking system each yoke also has sets of
hydraulic cylinders that lift each yoke independently. If the pins of one yoke engage into
the holes of the leg and the hydraulic cylinders perform a stroke the platform leg will
move. When the hydraulic cylinders for the first yoke reach its end position the pins of
 11

the second yoke engage with another hole in the leg. The pins of the first yoke let go and
the hydraulic cylinders of the second yoke stroke to take over the leg moving operation.
The two yokes then alter on moving the leg so that the platform have continuous
movement without interruptions making the jacking operation more efficient and
smoother (Fluid Power Journal, 2013). There is also single acting jacking system where
only one of the yokes is moved vertically, this save cost on the expense of jacking speed
compared to the continuous jacking system (GustoMSC, n.d.)

Figure 7 Pin and Hole jacking system (Fluid Power Journal, 2013)

The loads of the jacking system can be very large, both due to lifting of heavy loads and
due to dynamic loads from the environment. It is need for a control system to have
precision in all operation modes. The control system makes sure that the pins are
engaged in the correct positions at the right time and that the stroke of the hydraulic
cylinders are coordinated and precise. The control system also control pressure and loads
for smooth and safe operation without unnecessary wear on system components (Fluid
Power Journal, 2013).
 12

2.2.1.2 Rack and Pinion jacking system

This system uses jacking pinions that is rotated by motors as seen in Figure 8. Either
direct online motors or variable speed drive motors can be used. The pinions engage
with the teeth rack that is installed onto the platform leg. As the pinion turn, the leg is
moved up or down. To secure the platform in a static position after jacking the system is
equipped with a rack chock system that clamp onto the rack. The rack and pinion system
also require a sophisticated control system on par with the pin and hole jacking system.
The rack and pinion system are capable of higher jacking speeds than the pin and hole
system which is beneficial at deep water sites. (Kennedy, Chen, Chan, & Ådnanes, n.d.).
The system can be either electric or hydraulic (Bosch Rexroth, n.d.)

Figure 8 Rack and Pinion jacking system (Kennedy, Chen, Chan, & Ådnanes, n.d.)
 13

2.2.2 Heavy Lift Crane Vessel (HLCV)

For floating installation, a HLCV as seen in Figure 9 can be used (a barge with a shearleg
crane tugged by boats is a similar concept). This vessel floats both during transport and
during lifting operations. (European Wind Energy Association, 2011, p. 81)

Figure 9 HLCV Rambiz used to install an assembled wind turbine onto a foundation (Huisman, p. 2)

The shearleg crane cannot rotate so any angular movement need to be performed with the
vessel. As the HLCV is floating at lifting/mating operation the lifted object is subject to
dynamic motion that need to be handled with strict weather restrictions. Therefore the
HLCV is probably best suited for installing fully assembled wind turbine onto the
foundation not far from shore in sheltered areas (European Wind Energy Association,
2011, p. 81).

An inventory of existing and future vessels can be found in APPENDIX A Inventory of

installation vessels
 14

2.2.3 Semi-Submersible Crane Vessel (SSCV)

For very heavy offshore lifts the SSCV is the weapon of choice. This vessel can be used
for operations both at the wind farm site or as shown in the Figure 10 below in sheltered
waters.

The SSCV is supported by large pontoon structures that can be flooded with ballast
water to submerge the SSCV and make it very stable. The deck is connected to the
pontoons by legs making the deck elevated above the sea surface also when the pontoons
are submerged. (Chakrabarti, 2005, p. 28)

The SSCV have large payload and high capacity cranes capable of lifting many thousands
of tonnes. But the charter cost of the vessels can be to high compared to the other
installation vessels. (European Wind Energy Association, 2011, p. 80).

Figure 10 Hywind Scotland wind turbine mating with foundation at Stord using Saipem 7000 (Saipem, n.d.)

An inventory of available and future vessels can be found in APPENDIX A Inventory of

installation vessels
 15

2.2.4 Methods not using a crane for installation of wind turbine onto the
foundation
There are also concepts on the drawing board for installing offshore wind turbines
without crane ships on site. Below are some of them described.

The Ulstein Windlifter system consists of a storage solution for several fully assembled
wind turbines on the vessel cargo deck as seen in Figure 11. This is combined with a
mechanical skidding system that can collect a wind turbine from the storage rack and
move it over the foundation where the skidding system lower the wind turbine to mate
with the foundation. (Ulstein, n.d.)

Figure 11 Ulstein Windlifter system (Ulstein, n.d.)

Another concept is the float over catamaran (SWATH-type vessel) from Huisman seen
in Figure 12. The fully assembled wind turbines are installed on a stand. Offshore the
catamaran float over the foundation where the wind turbine can be lowered to mate with
the foundation (Huisman, p. 14).

Figure 12 Wind Turbine Shuttle (Huisman, p. 14)

 16

2.2.5 Installation from key side

For foundation concepts that is self-buoyant, like floating wind turbines and gravity-
based foundations, the wind turbine might be installed with cranes from key side as seen
in Figure 13. Suitable cranes and port facilities is necessary for this method to work.

Figure 13 Floatgen project wind turbine installation from shore (Wind Europe, 2017)
 17

2.3 Telescopic installation reference/competing projects

There are some attempts made for telescopic towers already, some only exists on the
drawing board so far while other concepts have been tested and installed.

2.3.1 The “Elisa Technology”

This telescopic tower technology is developed and patented by Esteyco. One 5MW
prototype seen in Figure 14 was installed in 2018 outside the Canary Islands in the
Elican Project (Esteyco, n.d.). There is also a project ongoing for using the telescopic
tower with the “Elisa Technology” on a floating foundation. This project is called
Telwind (Esteyco, n.d.)

Figure 14 Elisa Technology by Esteyco installed outside the Canary Islands (Elisa Technology by Esteyco, 2018)

The concept consists of a precast concreate telescopic tower and a self-buoyant gravity
foundation that make crane-less installation of offshore wind turbines possible (Serna,
2016). The installation sequence is described in Figure 15: (1) The wind turbine, tower
and foundation are assembled at shore in retracted position. (2) The assembly is floated to
the installation site. (3) The foundation is ballasted to land on the sea floor. (4) The
telescopic function elevates the tower to full height. (5) The wind turbine is put into
operation (Serna, 2016)
 18

Figure 15 Installation sequence of the Elisa technology (Esteyco, n.d.)

The two parts of the telescopic function of the Elisa Technology that is of main interest
to benchmark are the method for lifting the tower sections and the method for mating the
tower sections permanently.

Lifting of the tower sections is performed with three strand jacks that is placed on the
top of the lowest tower section, the arrangement can be seen in Figure 16, Figure 17 and
Figure 18 below.
 19

Figure 16 Strand jack lifting method and mating of tower sections for the Elisa technology (Mendizábal, Ramón
López, 2015, p. 5)

Figure 17 Strand Jacks arrangement Elisa technology, side view (Elisa Technology by Esteyco, 2018)
 20

Figure 18 Strand Jacks arrangement Elisa technology, top view (Elisa Technology by Esteyco, 2018)

The strand jacks that is showed in Figure 19, consist of a wire bundle that is gripped
inside the jack by top clamps and bottom clamps alternately. Between the clamps there is
a hydraulic cylinder making a stroke and lift the load a small length. The clamp grip and
hydraulic cylinder stroke sequence is repeated, and the load get lifted bit by bit until the
load is at the top. This is a well-used method for lifting very heavy loads with good
precision. (Mammoet, n.d.)

Figure 19 Mammoet Strand jacks (Mammoet, 2015)

The end of the strands is attached to the lower flange of the tower as can be seen on
Figure 20. The strands run through the circular holes that can be seen on the top flange
on Figure 21 and on the bottom flange seen on Figure 22. As the tower have several
sections the strand jacks need to be moved manually for erection of each tower section.

On Figure 21 and Figure 22 it can also see the long bolts that is used for mating the
tower sections permanently. These bolts get pretensioned to cope with varying loads
during wind turbine operation. The connection is also filled with a filler material that can
harden to mating the connecting surfaces (World Patent No. WO2013083853A1, 2013).
 21

Figure 20 Tower seen from the inside, Elisa technology (Serna, 2016)

Figure 21 Tower seen from the outside, Elisa technology (Esteyco, n.d.)

Figure 22 Tower section before assembly, Elisa technology (Elisa Technology by Esteyco, 2018)
 22

2.3.2 Telescopic turbine using a rack & pinion system integrated with a gravity
foundation
After designing the telescopic tower concept in this thesis assignment, I found a master
thesis, written by Pavel Korovkin at University of Stavanger in 2012 (Korovkin, 2012).
Korovkin have a similar idea as me for a telescopic wind turbine tower. This telescopic
wind turbine tower concept is, like the Elisa Technology, based on a self-buoyant gravity
foundation. The telescopic mechanism uses a rack and pinion system with the
mechanism placed inside the lower tower lifting the upper tower from below with the
rack mounted on the inner wall of the lower tower as showed in Figure 23. Korovkin
have not addressed a method for mating the upper tower and lower tower permanently.
(Korovkin, 2012)

Figure 23 Rack and pinion telescopic mechanism designed by Pavel Korovkin (Korovkin, 2012, pp. 68, 97)

2.3.3 Relevant patents

There is potential that the telescopic wind turbine tower described in this thesis
assignment could be subject for patent applications or publication. It could also be
existing patents or publications already covering the whole or parts of the telescopic
tower concept.

To not be restricted by other inventors work I saved the patent check to be the last
activity of the thesis assignment. With the telescopic tower concept finally developed
and described I did a check if there are patents cover similar technical solutions. I
searched the patent database Espacenet for “"telescopic wind turbine tower", the search
gives hits for each word in the sentence and should get most relevant patents.

There are several patents on telescopic wind turbines. All patents for the Elisa
Technology described in Chapter 2.3.1 is found. I also found two patents that have
similar telescopic tower mechanism as described in this thesis assignment.
 23

2.3.3.1 Lifting device for the assembly of a wind turbine

The first patent, that is described in Figure 24, has a telescopic mechanism placed inside
the lower tower. It consists of two platforms joined together by hydraulic cylinders. On
the inside of the lower there is installed anchoring beams that is oriented radially to the
tower. The platforms of the telescopic mechanism have lugs that can connect to hole in
the anchoring beams by pins (it is not described if the insertion of pins is a manual or
automatic operation). The telescopic mechanism climb is as the pin and hole jacking
mechanism. The invention also includes a supporting structure connecting the upper
tower to the mechanism and guide rollers on top of the lower tower to transfer horizontal
forces. The permanent connection of the upper and lower tower is done by vertical
aligned flanges. The telescopic mechanism can be disconnected from the upper tower,
climb down the inner tower and be disassembled. (World Patent No.
WO2007125138A1, 2012)

Figure 24 Telescopic mechanism and tower connection of patent WO2007125138A1 (World Patent No.
WO2007125138A1, 2012, p. 17)
 24

2.3.3.2 Support tower, particularly for a wind turbine

Another patent, described in Figure 25, also has a similar concept with regards to the
telescopic mechanism. This concept also uses the pin and hole jacking mechanism
placed below the upper tower. The lower tower has longitudinal guides oriented
circumferential to the tower. The guides have holes and the mechanism have pins that fit
the holes. The mechanism does not have a yoke structure, but the upper tower extends
downwards to anchor the hydraulic cylinders. The guides are T-shaped and the pin
mechanism grip around the T to hold the pin mechanisms to the longitudinal guides.
(World Patent No. WO2016001942A9, 2017)

Figure 25 Telescopic mechanism of patent WO2016001942A9 (World Patent No. WO2016001942A9, 2017, p. 26)
 25

The permanent connection between upper and lower tower is performed with two rings
that is pressed together with hydraulic operated pins. The outer ring (ref number 15 in
Figure 26) is placed on top of the lower tower and contains the pins (16), the inner ring
is part of the lowest section of the upper tower and have holes (18) that fit the pins of the
outer ring. From the pictures it looks like the inner ring have a bit wider outer radius
than the rest of the upper tower and that it has a chamfer (17), it is not described in detail
in the patent documentation but it could be that the connection is made as a geometrical
constraint between the outer and inner ring held in place by the hydraulic pins.

Figure 26 Permanent connection between upper and lower tower of patent WO2016001942A9 (World Patent No.
WO2016001942A9, 2017, pp. 23-24)

The concept aims for crane less offshore installation with a special barge that can float
over the pre-installed foundation.

2.3.3.3 Other concepts/patents for telescopic towers

There are numerous other concepts/patents for telescopic towers. Some uses a pulley
system for elevating the upper tower (World Patent No. WO0246552A9, 2004). Others
using hydraulic power of pumping fluid into the lower tower (World Patent No.
WO2010107693A4, 2011). Yet others using hydraulic crawler jacks climbing tendons
suspended inside the tower (World Patent No. WO2011006526A1, 2011). There is also
concepts that uses a rack and pinion system with the rack mounted and the outside of the
upper tower section and the pinion drive stationary at the tower base (United States
Patent No. US2013078109A1, 2013). It is probably even a greater flora of different
solutions, but the focus will be on the pin and hole jacking system so the search for other
concepts have been limited.
 26

2.4 Offshore wind turbine tower design

2.4.1 Main function

For an onshore wind turbine, it is an important function of the tower to get the rotor up
high where the wind is stronger because of wind shear. For an offshore wind turbine, the
wind shear is not as prominent as for onshore wind turbines, so the tower does not need
to be high for that reason. For an offshore wind turbine, it is more important that the
tower shall create an air gap between the blade in lowest position and the sea surface.
(BVG Associates, 2019, p. 52) With about 110 m rotor radius (GE Renewable Energy,
n.d.) the required height of the tower is considerable for the ≥12 MW offshore wind
turbines.

The tower shall support the loads that the wind turbine is exposed to. It shall also
provide access to the nacelle and protect cables and equipment from the outside
environment. The tower can also contain equipment, e.g. transformer etc., that is
necessary for the wind turbine function but that does not need to be in the nacelle. (BVG
Associates, 2019, p. 52)

2.4.2 Tower types

2.4.2.1 Tubular steel tower
Most offshore wind turbines use tubular steel towers (BVG Associates, 2019, p. 52). The
tubular tower is conical with larger diameter and thicker shell at the bottom to increase
the strength where the loads is greatest while saving material (Det Norske Veritas and
Wind Energy Department, Risø National Laboratory, 2009, p. 169)

Fabricating a tower for a ≥12 MW wind turbine requires a specialized manufacturer that
can handle the large size and weight. Proximity to a suitable port for shipment, large
specialized machines and specialist knowhow on welding etc. is vital. The towers are
therefore manufactured by specialists’ companies, but often on design provided by the
wind turbine suppliers (BVG Associates, 2019, p. 52).

The tower for the Haliade X 12 MW prototype installed in Rotterdam where

manufacturer by GRI Towers in Sevilla, Spain (GRI Renewable Industries, n.d.). The
manufacturing site in Sevilla have access to sea transport and can currently manufacture
towers sections of 50 meter, 350 tonnes and plate thickness up to 100 mm (GRI
Renewable Industries, n.d.)

The tower is constructed in sections to allow for manufacturing and transportation. For
the assembly they usually have flanges that are bolted together (Veljkovic, et al., 2011,
p. 276). The manufacturing is made by cutting steel plates that is rolled into shape by
huge plate rolling machines. The curved plates get welded into cans of about 3 m height.
The cans are in turn welded together with other cans of different wall thickness/diameter
to a complete the tower. The plate is typical S355 steel. Flanges are forged and rolled.
(BVG Associates, 2019, pp. 52-53). The work requires high dimensional tolerances and
 27

the welds need to be performed with high level of craftmanship and verified by NDT.
Openings and other anomalies on the tower can create areas of stress concentrations that
will be weak spots in the construction if no measures are taken. Reinforcement and
better steel grades can help to compensate. (BVG Associates, 2019, p. 53) To make the
tower corrosion resistant in the offshore environment the steel is metal sprayed, then
coated with an epoxy spray primer and a polyurethane topcoat (BVG Associates, 2019,
p. 53).

A wind turbine not only have the outer shell but also other steel parts. There could be
ladders or elevators for access, platforms for access to flanges and to provide resting
places for personal climbing the tower, there can also be cable ladders for supporting the
power cables on the routing along the tower up to the nacelle. (Damiana, 2016, p. 317)
On an offshore wind turbine, it will also be an external platform near the base of the
tower. It will also be J-tubes for array cable guiding, boat landing at foundation, cranes,
etc. (Damiana, 2016, p. 317)

2.4.2.2 Lattice tower

A lattice tower consists of steel profiles welded in a truss structure. This type of tower
requires only about half the materials compared to a corresponding tubular steel tower
with the same height and stiffness. Lattice tower weight increase for higher towers is less
than for the tubular steel tower design. (Hau, 2013, p. 496) Less material can decrease
the production cost by 20% compared to a tubular steel tower but the lattice towers take
longer time to install and will require more maintenance than the tubular steel tower so it
is not necessarily less expensive in a life time perspective (Hau, 2013, p. 494). It is also
more difficult to automate the manufacturing of a lattice tower compared to the tubular
steel tower manufacturing (Damiana, 2016, p. 274).

The main reason why lattice tower is not used in greater extent for wind turbine tower is
the visual appearance. (Det Norske Veritas and Wind Energy Department, Risø National
Laboratory, 2009, p. 170)

2.4.2.3 Concrete tower

Concrete towers can either be built by mixing and curing the concrete at site or to use
prefabricated tower segments assembled at site. The concrete need to be reinforced by
steel rebars or steel wire nets. In reinforced concrete the reinforcement is just put inside
the concrete mix and in prestressed concrete the reinforcement is prestressed introducing
compressive stresses into the material to increase the tensile stress endurance of the
finished product. Prestressing make varying bending loads cancelled out giving the
structure high fatigue resistance. The prestressed concrete also has the benefit that the
tower stiffness can be changed with varying the prestressing to give desirable structural
damping. (Hau, 2013, pp. 487-488)

The concrete tower mass is about 4-5 time the mass of a corresponding tubular steel
tower. But concrete is a cheaper material than steel and for some projects it can be more
 28

cost effective than steel. The concrete parts are heavy and expensive to transport, and a
local manufacturer is key to get it cost effective (Hau, 2013, p. 494). A high tower made
in concrete will have to carry its own weight, and the dynamic behavior will make the
design soft-soft (see Figure 27 for definition) due to the mass in the top sections, this
might give resonance issues. A solution can be a hybrid tower with concrete in the lower
sections and a tubular steel tower or lattice tower at the top sections. (Hau, 2013, p. 494)

2.4.3 Design loads for a wind turbine tower

2.4.3.1 Design load cases
The tower needs to support aerodynamic loads from the wind acting on rotor and tower.
It also needs to support the weight of nacelle/rotor/tower, handle inertia loads as well as
externa loads like waves, ice, earthquake etc. A wind turbine designed according to an
international standard, e.g. IEC61400, will have predefined requirements for wind
speeds and turbulence it shall be able to sustain. It will then also have predefined design
load cases that need to be verified. The load cases are divided into design situations that
typically are normal operation, transient operation (start, stop, idling, stand still),
transportation, installation, faults, maintenance and testing. To get a design load case the
design situation is combined with a wind event that typically are normal wind conditions
with/without turbulence and extreme wind events of different kinds. (Det Norske Veritas
and Wind Energy Department, Risø National Laboratory, 2009, p. 55)

2.4.3.2 Dynamic response

A tubular tower only supported at the base is equal to a cantilever beam in a structural
analysis. Such a structure has a natural frequency, if exited by external forces with
similar frequency as the natural frequency the structure will resonate. The effect can be
large amplitude oscillations. It is therefore important to avoid tower natural frequencies
that coincides with the frequencies of the typical loads that the tower can experience.
(Twidell & Gaudiosi, 2009, pp. 174-176)

Dynamic loading on the tower mainly comes from blade rotation and wind turbulence.
The blade pass frequency (1P) is the most important since the blade pass closely to the
tower for each revolution. Rotor frequency (3P) is rarely a problem since the blades are
similar in shape and weight. If the tower 1st natural frequency is lower than 1P it is
called soft-soft, natural frequency between 1P and 3P is called soft-stiff, and natural
frequency above 3P is called stiff-stiff. (Veljkovic, et al., 2011, pp. 281-282) The turbine
natural frequencies and dynamic loading frequencies is summarized in Figure 27. A
stiffer structure requires more material and material is a cost driver for the tower which
make softer structures attractive (Twidell & Gaudiosi, 2009, p. 177). Making the tower
conical increase the stiffness without a huge increase in mass (Hau, 2013, p. 494). The
frequency of blade pass and rotor shall be no closer than +/-10% of the tower natural
frequency to avoid problems (Det Norske Veritas and Wind Energy Department, Risø
National Laboratory, 2009, p. 171). Even though the blade pass frequency is dominant
for the design also the second bending frequency and the first torsional frequency need
to be verified. (Hau, 2013, p. 474). For variable speed turbines all operational speeds
 29

need to be outside the tower natural frequencies (Det Norske Veritas and Wind Energy
Department, Risø National Laboratory, 2009, p. 171). For an offshore wind turbine wave
frequency can also affect the tower. The wave frequency is generally lower than the
rotor frequency. For soft-soft tower designs the wave frequencies might come into play
but if the turbine is operating there will be aerodynamic damping on the wind turbine
that limit the effect of wave resonance. (Twidell & Gaudiosi, 2009, pp. 178-179)

Figure 27 Natural frequencies of wind turbine tower and frequencies of exiting forces. (Bouzid, Bhattacharya, &
Ostmane, 2018)

To decrease vibration and inertia forces a damper can be placed in the tower. Increasing
damping can reduce resonance, deflections and loads. The simplest damper concepts like
Tuned Mass Damper (TMD) use a mass suspended in springs that is moved passively to
counteract the structural response of the tower. To be most effective the damper needs to
be installed at the top of the tower. For a damper using a passive mass the weight of this
mass needs to be relatively large to give the desired effect. Additional top mass is not
good news for a wind turbine tower. To decrease the mass needed the damper can be
equipped with actuators that actively move the mass to mitigate the structural responses.
These systems will require a power source and are usually more expensive than the
TMDs. The TMD can damp both in surge, pitch and especially sway (that is difficult to
compensate for with aerodynamic damping). (Damiana, 2016, pp. 317-321)
 30

2.4.3.3 Limit state design

The normal procedure when calculating the tower design is to use a limit state design
method with the use of load and resistance factors. The principle is to use a partial
safety factor for loads and material characteristics to make sure that the design is safe.
The partial safety factor is different if the design event is likely to happen or if it is an
unlikely event. Ultimate Limit State (ULS), Fatigue Limit State (FLS) and Serviceability
Limit State (SLS) shall be evaluated. (Damiana, 2016, pp. 301-303)

2.4.3.4 Stability
For tubular steel tower design, buckling failure at extreme loads can be a critical failure
mechanism. Tower design is an optimization problem making the tower light weight and
less costly on one hand but on the other hand strong enough to handle the worst design
cases. (Veljkovic, et al., 2011, p. 280) Buckling is when the load on the structural
component is subject to a compressive force and when this compression gets to large the
shape of the structural component suddenly gives in creating a dent or a crease. The
shape deformation can change the load distribution in the structure and escalate to a
catastrophic failure. (Lundh, 1998, p. 119)

2.4.3.5 Fatigue
Fatigue loads can also be dimensioning, especially for welded connections, flanges,
bolting or other places where stress concentrations appear. Fatigue is a process where the
material get gradual damages and cracks can develop over time at continuously changing
stress. The loads on a wind turbine is varying with time so the wind turbine structure is
exposed to fatigue issues. Designing against fatigue it is necessary to make sure that the
actual stress histogram of a structure is below what is statistically found at test of similar
structures. The stress histogram is called a S-N curve that show stress on the y-axis and
number of stress cycles on the x-axis. A structure can take a few large stress cycles and
many stress cycles with lower stress range. At each stress cycle the material potentially
get a small damage and it is the cumulative damage over time that create a critical
failure. Depending on criticality of the structural detail and the possibility to inspect and
repair a safety factor is applied to the fatigue life calculation. (Twidell & Gaudiosi, 2009,
pp. 179-183)

2.4.3.6 Vortex induced vibrations (VIV)

Wind blowing on the circular tower can create vortices that can result in structural
vibration in the tower. This effect is most prominent during the transport and erection
phase before the nacelle and rotor is installed. The effect is dependent on wind speed and
if there is risk for VIV either specific wind speeds need to be avoided, guy wires can be
installed, or a temporary top mass can be installed. VIV is usually not an issue when the
wind turbine is in operation (Det Norske Veritas and Wind Energy Department, Risø
National Laboratory, 2009, p. 174)
 31

2.4.4 Tower section connection

For manufacturing and transportation purposes the tower cannot be built in one piece. It
will therefore be needed a method for assembling the tower sections, below is two
alternatives described Ring Flange Connection and Friction Connection.

2.4.4.1 Ring Flange Connection (L-flange)

The most common way of assembling the tower sections is to use ring flanges that are
welded to the shell as shown in Figure 28 (Veljkovic, et al., 2011, p. 284).

The flanges have holes for installing high strength steel bolts in the tower axial direction
and the flanges usually points inwards so that the bolts are installed inside the tower
where they are protected from the outside environment. The shape of the flange
resemblance an L and they can be called L-flanges. The bolts are pretensioned with
torque tools to prevent the flange to open at high moments and to increase bolt fatigue
life. (Heistermann, 2014, p. 12)

Figure 28 Bolted Ring Flange Connection (L-Flange) (Veljkovic & Husson, Elforsk rapport: 09:11 High-strength wind
turbine steel towers, 2009, p. 3)

The varying loads on a wind turbine tower make both the bolts and the welds for the
flanges highly loaded in fatigue. Since the L-flange bolt connection is eccentric to the
load transferred from the tower a leverage is present that can result in prying forces at
the bolted connection as described in Figure 29, also the bolts will get bending moments
as the flange opens (Veljkovic, et al., 2011, p. 284).

The flanges are forged, and the manufacturing need to be made to high tolerances. Gaps
in the mating surfaces of the flange can change the clamping performance of the bolts
and decrease both ultimate strength and fatigue strength. (Veljkovic, et al., 2011, p. 289).
 32

Figure 29 Prying forces in a flanged tower connection (Veljkovic, et al., 2011, p. 286)

2.4.4.2 Friction connection with long slotted holes

Another concept for assembling tower sections is to use a friction connection with long
slotted holes. This type of connection has been developed for onshore wind tower
assembly by an EU-sponsored project called Histwin (Veljkovic M. , et al., 2012). It is
the application of the friction connection and the use of open slotted holes that is the
innovation of the Histwin-project, friction connections with normal clearance holes have
been used for different structural applications for a long time and is studied a lot
(Heistermann, 2014, p. 22). The friction connection can be designed according to
renowned structural construction standards, e.g. EN 1993-1-8 (Heistermann, 2014, p.
26). The friction connection with slotted holes is not patented and the background
information is made available to the public (Veljkovic, et al., 2015, p. 137)

In the Histwin-project the ambition with the friction connection is to save material and
cost compared to the conventional flanged connection in high onshore steel towers
(Veljkovic M. , et al., 2012). They estimate that the cost savings can be about 15%
compared to a conventional flanged tower (Heistermann, 2014, p. 2). The cost savings
come from no need for expensive forged flanges (Veljkovic & Husson, Elforsk rapport:
09:11 High-strength wind turbine steel towers, 2009, p. 36), as well as the possibilities
of thinner shell since the fatigue performance of the friction connection is better than for
a flanged connection and provide possibilities to use higher strength steel (Heistermann,
2014, p. 2).
 33

The friction connection, as can be seen in Figure 30 and Figure 31, consist of circular
bolt holes in the wall of one tower section, the mating tower section have long slotted
holes that is opened in the end. The diameter of the section with slotted holes is smaller
than the section with circular holes so that the section can overlap (Veljkovic M. , et al.,
2012, pp. 5-6). The purpose of the slotted hole is to ease installation since it allow
having a radial gap between the mating surfaces of the connection that can be closed at
final bolt torqueing (Heistermann, 2014, p. 29). Tension Control Bolts (TCB) is inserted
in the holes. A cover plate is installed on the inside of the tower to hold each bolt group
together and to distribute the clamping force from the bolts. When the TCB’s is torqued
and preloaded they create a clamping force on the overlapping surfaces at the tower
connection and increase friction forces between the mating surfaces, see Figure 32. The
friction will hold the wind turbine weight and any forces that come from operation.
(Veljkovic M. , et al., 2012, pp. 5-6)

Figure 30 Assembly of friction connection (Veljkovic M. , et al., 2012, p. 5)

Figure 31 Friction Connection overview (Veljkovic M. , et al., 2012, p. 5)

 34

Figure 32 Description of friction surfaces (Veljkovic M. , et al., 2015, p. 76)

The TCB, showed in Figure 33, can be torqued from the inside only. When the bolt is
installed in the bolt hole the cover plate and nut is installed. A shear wrench installed
from the inside of the tower engage both with the nut and with the bolt at the spline. As
the shear wrench hold the bolt stationary the outer socket of the torque tool turns the nut
as showed in Figure 34. The TCB have corrosion protection (Veljkovic & Husson,
Elforsk rapport: 09:11 High-strength wind turbine steel towers, 2009, p. 5)

Figure 33 Tension control bolt parts (Veljkovic & Husson, Elforsk rapport: 09:11 High-strength wind turbine steel
towers, 2009, p. 5)

Figure 34 Tension control bolt torqueing procedure, a) Inner part of shear wrench hold bolt stationary and the outer
part of the shear wrench torque the nut, b) the inner part of the shear wrench can turn off the spline after the bolt is
installed and pretensioned (Veljkovic & Husson, Elforsk rapport: 09:11 High-strength wind turbine steel towers, 2009,
p. 5)
 35

The friction connection can fail if the friction surfaces move relative to each other or
relative to the bolts, loads resulting in slip must be avoided (Heistermann, 2014, p. 79).
Different surfaces will have different slip factor depending on characteristics like steel
type, coating, surface etc., a rough surfaces like corroded steel will have high slip factor
and coated surfaces will have lower slip factor (Heistermann, 2014, p. 23). The slip
factor can be increased by adding more bolts to the friction connection (Heistermann,
2014, p. 79).

The loads on a tower section connection is cyclic and the stress in the connection will
vary between compression and tension. In the friction connection the bolt is pretensioned
and friction transfer forces from one section to the next, this avoid notch stresses that
could be start of fatigue cracks. The friction connection have fatigue resistance on par
with a but welded connection which is much better than the conventional L-flanged
connection. (Veljkovic M. , et al., 2015, pp. 76-77)

The friction connection can handle some imperfections in tower geometry and is
therefore less sensitive compared to a flanged connection. The friction connection has
been analyzed to have 8% higher bending resistance than a flanged connection. For the
bolts, the friction connection outperforms the flanged connection with a factor three
since there is no prying effects. (Veljkovic, et al., 2015, p. 89)

Since fatigue is less an issue for the friction connection often the stability of the friction
connection under compression will be dimensioning. (Heistermann, 2014, p. 79).
Heisterman have analyzed the local buckling for different free finger length of the
friction connection as showed in Figure 35. If the fingers are thick and short, it is a risk
of plastic deformation of the fingers as they close the initial radial gap between the
friction surfaces. If the fingers are long and thin the friction connection will be more
prone to local buckling of the free length part of the fingers and the resistance to bending
moment decrease. (Heistermann, 2014, p. 97)

Figure 35 Buckling check of fingers with different free finger length (Heistermann, 2014, p. 97)
 36

The Histwin-project have done several analyses and tests to qualify the friction
connection. Some of the tests are:

• Loss of pretention in bolts (long term and short term) (Veljkovic M. , et al., 2012,
p. 7)
• Bending test of downscaled tower with friction connection compared to L-
flanged connection (Veljkovic M. , et al., 2012, pp. 8-9)
• Segment fatigue test of a friction connection (Veljkovic M. , et al., 2012, pp. 9-
11)
• Prototype testing of manufacturing and assembly friction connection (Veljkovic
M. , et al., 2012, pp. 12-13)
• Different kinds of Finite Element analysis have also been performed to have
theoretical models to verify against tested results (Heistermann, 2014, p. 51 ff)
and also to check for example buckling behavior (Heistermann, 2014, p. 93 ff)

The Histwin-project have also developed a friction connection sizing tool to be used by
tower designers. This can be downloaded for free (RFCS HISTWIN+ project, 2015)
 37

3 CHAPTER: METHODOLOGY AND DATA

3.1 Presentation of the thesis

The method for developing the telescopic wind turbine tower is to first find the main
problems/functions that need to be solved/developed. Technical solutions to the main
functions are then developed by creative thinking, literature search and
modelling/calculation/analysis.

A design basis based on a 12 MW reference wind turbine is developed to form basis for
design and analysis.

The developed telescopic wind turbine tower concept is analyzed for technical and
commercial suitability and iteration steps was needed in the concept development process
to get to a final good solution.

A cost/benefit analysis is performed to investigate if there is any potential in the developed

solution. This is scenario based.

Alternative conventional installation methods, other telescopic tower concepts and

installation methods will be screened for benchmark comparison and alternative concepts.

3.2 Data Sources

Data is collected from books and online sources. Information on a 12 MW reference

turbine is based on available information on the Haliade X 12 MW wind turbine, see
Chapter 2.1.2. Where information on this turbine is not available from external sources
assumptions and estimations have been used to fill the gaps. The data for the reference
turbine is used for designing and calculating the telescopic mechanism and the tower
connection.

Data for installation vessels is collected from online sources and vessel datasheets.

For the economic feasibility analysis, it has been difficult to find suitable and reliable
sources. The wind turbine installation industry is competitive, and the companies is
reluctant to display any prices. Differences in daily charter rates for a 2nd generation
installation vessel compared to a 4th generation installation vessel is critical data for the
economic analysis. The solution was to base the cost analysis on a study performed at
the University of Strathclyde Glasgow in 2013 (Dalgic, Lazakis, & Turan) where daily
charter rates is compared to installation vessel investment cost. A typical investment cost
is then found for a 4th generation vessel and put into the chart showing relationship
between CAPEX and charter rates.
 38

The economic parameters change over time and area, merging and comparing data from
different sources, time period and area might not be accurate, but for this thesis it is
deemed enough since economic feasibility is only discussed in a generalized manner.

When estimating the cost of the telescopic tower different methods are used. For parts
that is manufactured the estimate is based on weight/dimension multiplied by a norm
factor and uncertainty factor to get total cost. For items that are standard components
bought from equipment supplier prices is either found in pricelists or sourced directly
from the suppliers. Where accurate cost has not been possible to collect it have been
estimated. The cost is put into a Master Equipment List (MEL). To not disclose cost of
equipment sourced from supplier’s equipment cost is hidden in the report and only
disclosed as aggregated costs.

Data is collected from sources using different currencies and from different time periods.
Throughout the report Euro is used as the currency and the exchange rate used is:

Exchange rates:
1 € = 1,1 $
1 € = 0,85 £
1 € = 10 NOK
1 € = 120 JPY

3.3 Mathematical modelling

The design basis for the telescopic mechanism is based on simple calculations for
gravity loads and wind loads that can occur during the installation phase, see Chapter
3.5.5. The main check is how the shoulders on the lower tower cope with the loads. This
check is performed with a simple FEA performed in the Static Structural module of the
Software Ansys (Ansys, 2019). The uppermost 2 meters of the lower tower is modelled,
and each shoulder is loaded with the design force from Chapter 3.5.5.5. The analysis is
solved for Equivalent von Mises stress and deformations, results can be seen in Chapter
4.1.4.1.

The telescopic mechanism is not calculated or checked with FEA due to time constraints
of the thesis work and restrictions of handled complexity in the version of Ansys used
for the shoulder verification. The sizing of the telescopic mechanism is done by
estimating dimension based on the shoulder FEA results. Some parts of the telescopic
mechanism will likely be under-sized in 3D-model and other will be over-sized. The
design of the telescopic mechanism is a feasibility study and an indication of the
functions and shall not be understood as a final design.

The hydraulic system is designed from the design force from Chapter 3.5.5.5. Simple
calculations and component selections are made, calculation can be seen in APPENDIX
G Calculation of hydraulic system
 39

Loads used as input for friction connection design is performed with the aero-elastic
software Ashes. A limited number of design load cases is simulated to get the design
parameters. see APPENDIX E Design load cases for connection of tower section.

The design parameters are put into an excel tool developed by the Histwin-project
(RFCS HISTWIN+ project, 2015) to get a friction connection design, see APPENDIX
F1 Calculation of friction connection.

The economic analysis is performed as a case study where the cases and assumptions are
clearly described.

Software used in the thesis assignment is listed in Table 2

Table 2 Software used in the thesis assignment

Software Used for

Ansys FEA of shoulder/wall of lower tower
Ashes Aeroelastic simulation to get design loads
of friction connection
Adobe Rush Assembly clips from SketchUp for the
tower erection animation.
Histwin excel tool Dimensioning of friction connection
PowerPoint Animation of onshore and offshore
assembly
SketchUp 3D modelling of wind turbine and
telescopic mechanism
Solidworks 3d model of shoulder/wall

3.4 Model/visualization

To develop and detail the concept of the telescopic tower a 3D-model is created in the
software Sketchup (Trimble, 2017). The wind turbine and the main features of the
telescopic mechanism and the friction connection is modelled. The 3D model is used for
illustrations throughout the report and will be used in an animation visualizing the
concept, see APPENDIX I 3D animation.

To animate the whole installation sequence from shore to offshore site, the 3D software
is too time consuming for this thesis assignment, and a simper animation of the logistic
operation is done with the software PowerPoint. This animation show how the wind
turbine is assembled at shore, transported on an installation vessel to site and lifted by
the same installation vessel onto the foundation offshore, see APPENDIX J 2D
animation.
 40

3.5 Design Basis

3.5.1 Concept criteria

To design the telescopic tower several concept criteria is set up to guide the design
process. Some of the criteria is general and others are dedicated a specific part of the
telescopic tower concept. The success of the design will be evaluated against these
criteria in Chapter 5.3

The solution should:

• Allow low assembly height at installation
• Allow low COG at installation
• Be cost effective
• Be a simple design
• Be a safe design
• Use proven technology
• Be possible to dismantle and reuse at other wind turbines
• Limit change to existing turbine/tower design
• Allow few offshore operations during mating/installation
• Be protected from marine environment
• The tower erection shall not take longer than 12 hours

3.5.2 Main functions

3.5.2.1 Elevate upper tower

A telescopic tower needs a telescopic mechanism that lift the movable upper tower
sections (with nacelle and rotor) in a controlled manner and transfer all loads, moments
and torque to the lower tower sections. It is important to understand that the loads from
gravity and environment will make the telescopic mechanism unevenly loaded during
erection. To not overload the tower or the telescopic mechanism components it is
important to distribute load so that all components can manage them without getting
damaged.

The telescopic elevation might be time critical due to weather window and cost of workers,
boats and equipment. It is therefore important that the elevation is relatively fast.

3.5.2.2 Guide upper tower during installation operation

As described above the wind turbine is subject to forces and moments during assembly,
transport and erection. To distribute and absorb these forces there will be need for a
guiding system. For the upper tower to move relative to the lower tower during elevation
there will need to be a radial gap between these tower sections. The horizontal guiding
system need to close this gap to distribute the horizontal forces acting on the upper tower
assembly in the same time as the guide system allow vertical movement of the upper
tower section.
 41

Some forces acting on the rotor will rotate the upper tower assembly relative to the lower
tower. Friction forces in the telescopic mechanism will counteract the rotation during
elevation but there will also be need for a dedicated rotational guide. It will also be
important to align the tower sections with a relatively high tolerance to match the parts
of the permanent connection between the upper and lower tower.

During assembly of the tower sections at shore there might be need for temporary
installation guides for the sections not to collide and for the mating to be accurate.

3.5.2.3 Connect upper and lower tower permanently

When the upper tower is at full elevation it needs to be connected permanently to the
lower tower. The connection shall be designed to cope with all loads the tower can
experience during its lifetime. It is also important that the mating operation is simple and
effective since the upper tower is at a vulnerable state until the tower connection is
permanent. The connection might need human interface and need to be safe.

3.5.2.4 Install/dismantle telescopic mechanism

The telescopic mechanism will be a cost item not present in the conventional wind
turbine design. It will be a sophisticated piece of machinery and some of the components
will be expensive. To get the cost down it will be beneficial to reuse the capital parts of
the telescopic mechanism several time on different wind turbines. To improve the
economic feasibility of the method the telescopic mechanism can be made so that the
components can be dismantled into smaller parts that can be
lifted/rigged/skidded/transported out from the tower, lifted onto a boat and reused on the
next wind turbine.

3.5.3 Governing regulations

A telescopic tower wind turbine needs to adhere to laws, regulations, standards and
specification. Some of the most important standards that is related to this thesis
assignment is listed below.

Wind turbine design:

• IEC-61400 series Wind Turbines
• IEC 61400-3:2009 Design requirements for offshore wind turbines
• DNVGL-ST-0473 Loads and site conditions for wind turbines
• DNVGL-ST-0126 Support structures for wind turbines
• DNVGL-ST-0119 Floating wind turbine structures
• DNVGL-ST-0361 Machinery for wind turbines

Self-elevating units:
• DNVGL-RP-C104 Self-elevating units
• DNVGL-RU-OU-0104 Self-elevating units
• DNVGL-OS-C104 Structural design of self-elevating units - LRFD method
 42

Marine operations general:

• DNVGL-ST-N001 Marine operations and marine warranty

Structural engineering general:

• DNV-RP-C205 Environmental Conditions and Environmental Loads
• EN 1990 Eurocode 0: Basis of structural design
• EN 1993 Eurocode 3: Design of steel structures
• NORSOK N-003 Actions and action effects
• DNVGL-RP-C202 Buckling strength of shells
• DNVGL-OS-B101 Metallic Materials

Offshore lifting
• DNVGL-ST-0377 Standard for shipboard lifting appliances
• DNVGL-ST-0378 Standard for offshore and platform lifting appliances

3.5.4 Tower dimensions

The exact dimensions of the Haliade X 12 MW tower are not available to me. To
estimate the tower geometry the known parameters of tower height, upper outer
diameter, lower outer diameter from Table 1 is used. For calculation purposes the tower
is estimated to be two cones, one for the inner wall and one for the outer wall as shown
in Figure 36. By guessing the wall thickness of tower bottom and tower top a geometry
can be calculated with continuously decreasing wall thickness from bottom to top of
tower. By calculating the weight of this tower and compare it to the weight from Table 1
it can be verified that the calculated geometry is realistic.
 43

Figure 36 Calculation of tower geometry

The lower tower should be a cylinder to keep the telescopic mechanism simple and for
the reference turbine the inner radius is set to 3,5 meters. The result is summarized in
APPENDIX B Tower dimensions.
 44

3.5.5 Loads on the telescopic mechanism

To design the telescopic mechanism, it is necessary to know the loads that the
mechanism shall lift and handle. The wind turbine will be idle during telescopic erection,
so the loads is simplified as gravity loads and wind loads on the static wind turbine.

3.5.5.1 Weight lifted by the telescopic mechanism

From Table 1 and APPENDIX B Tower dimensions:
• Nacelle and hub: 718 t
• Blades: 55 t each
• Upper tower: 224 t

Total weight to be lifted by the telescopic mechanism: ~1100 tonnes

3.5.5.2 Turnover moment from eccentric COG

The effect from the eccentric COG of an assembled wind turbine will create a turnover
moment around the origin at the center of the telescopic mechanism. To counteract this,
the loads is unevenly distributed towards the rotor side of the telescopic mechanism. The
calculation can be found in APPENDIX C Gravity loads due to eccentric COG.

The rotor side of the telescopic mechanism will take about 96 % of the gravity load if the
wind turbine is perfectly vertical. It will be the rotor side that perform all the work during
tower elevation.

The eccentric COG will also come in play when the wind turbine assembly is lifted onto
the foundation.

3.5.5.3 Turn over moment from tower tilt and tower deflection
When the wind turbine is installed onto the foundation the eccentric COG (and other
loads like wind) could make the tower tilt or bend slightly from vertical. This can shift
the COG to be even more eccentric to the origin of the telescopic mechanism.

With a floating foundation the situation will be even more special as the foundation will
sink and tilt when the tower weight is transferred to the foundation.

The effect of tilt on the telescopic mechanism loads is summarized in Figure 37 and
Figure 38 for -4, -2, 0, +2 and +4 degrees tilt. The calculation is found in APPENDIX C
Gravity loads due to eccentric COG
 45

Figure 37 Illustration of effect on horizontal COG depending on wind turbine tilt

Load share rotor/aft side of WTG

as function of tilt
200,00 %

150,00 %

100,00 %

50,00 %

0,00 %
-4 -2 0 2 4

-50,00 %

-100,00 %

Rot % of total Aft % of total

Figure 38 Load share rotor/back side of wind turbine as function of tilt (tilt towards rotor side is positive)
 46

The calculation shows that a tilt towards the rotor side can make the load on the back side
negative. The telescopic mechanism on the back side will need to be designed to cope with
the upward force from the turnover moment.

Due to the tilt some of the gravitational forces will be transferred from the telescopic
mechanism to the lower tower as a horizontal force component. This will need to be taken
by the horizontal support.

For a wind turbine on a fixed foundation (reference wind turbine foundation) it is

assumed that the tilt should not be more than +2 degrees and these values is therefore
used for the telescopic mechanism design basis. The upper tower itself cannot tilt more
than 0,6 degrees relative to the lower tower before the upper tower at retracted position
will clash with the upper part of the lower tower.

3.5.5.4 Wind loads on idle rotor

The tower and the blades will get wind loads that need to be taken by the telescopic
mechanism. The rotor will be idle during the erection of the telescopic tower and it is
assumed that the blades can be fixed in a position that give low drag coefficient on
incoming wind. A simple wind load calculation is performed in APPENDIX D Wind
loads at installation.

Since the wind turbine is installed on a windy location it important that the wind
restrictions for erecting the telescopic mechanism is not set to strict, limiting weather
window for the operation. For this design basis a wind speed of 12 m/s is used.
1 2
𝐹 = 2 𝜌𝐶𝐷 𝐴𝑚 𝑈𝑚 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝛼 Equation 1

ρ = density of air
CD = drag coefficient
Am = surface area normal to wind
Um = mean wind speed
α = angle between wind direction and exposed surface area
(Det Norske Veritas (DNV), 2010, p. 47)

The calculation is made as if the wind is coming towards the rotor side, this side has an
aerodynamic design that create low drag on the airfoils. If the wind would come from
the back side the surfaces will be less aerodynamic and the loads will be higher. For the
design basis of this thesis assignment it is assumed that the weather forecast is confident
on a steady wind direction and that the wind turbine can be installed with the wind
coming straight onto the rotor. With this assumption the wind will counteract the
turnover moment from the eccentric COG. At 12 m/s the counteracting moment will take
590 t off the vertical load and 73 t horizontal load off the telescopic mechanism rotor
side, see APPENDIX D Wind loads at installation. The wind turbine tilt will also be less
when the wind counteracts the turnover moment from eccentric COG.
 47

The wind will also create a torque around the tower axis due to turbulence, wind shear
and yaw misalignment etc. Based on result from aeroelastic simulation (APPENDIX E
Design load cases for connection of tower section) it is expected that the torque on the
telescopic mechanism during erection will be less than 3000 kNm equal to a load of
about 100 t at the outer radius of the mechanism.

3.5.5.5 Summary Design loads for telescopic mechanism

For max tilt of +/-2 degrees from vertical
o Rotor side vertical at tower outer radius: +1312 t (since the installation can be
performed at windless conditions the wind loads, counteracting the eccentric
COG gravity load, is disregarded in the design load)
o Back side vertical at tower outer radius: +300 t and -216 t
o Rotor side horizontal at tower outer radius: 38 t
o Back side horizontal at tower outer radius: 111 t
o Rotational at tower outer radius: 100 t

The loads will need to be factored with partial safety factors for the installation load
case:
• Material factor 1.1 (DNV, 2016, p. 54)
• Load factor 1,35 (DNVGL, 2016, p. 63)

3.5.6 Loads on the connection between upper and lower tower

The loads acting on the connection between upper and lower tower depend on the wind
turbine design and external forces, mainly from the wind acting on the rotor. It is defined
load cases that need to be verified in standards like IEC61400-1/DNVGL-ST-0473. The
reference turbine Haliade-X 12 MW is of Wind Class IB, high wind and lower
turbulence. Stop wind is assumed to be 25 m/s and turbulence intensity is 16% (IEC,
2019, p. 29) and the extreme 50-year gust is 70 m/s (IEC, 2019, p. 29).

To get the loads and moments acting in the area of the tower connection the Ashes-
software is used (Simis, 2019). Ashes is an aero-servo-hydro-elastic simulation tool that
can be used in a dynamic simulation to find loads and responses in a wind turbine
(Simis, n.d.).

Description of the analyzes and the results can be found in APPENDIX E Design load
cases for connection of tower section

3.5.7 Vessels relevant for ≥12 MW turbines with telescopic tower

To investigate the possibility to use smaller/cheaper/more available installation vessels
for the ≥12 MW telescopic wind turbine tower a design basis for this installation vessel
need to be defined. The design basis will then be used to select a reference installation
vessel, one Jack-up installation vessel and one HLCV, that will be part of further
analysis of the installation of a telescopic tower wind turbine.
 48

In the available market for Jack-up installation vessels (2nd and 3rd generation) there will
be some limitations for which vessels that can be used for the 12 MW turbine with
telescopic tower. The weight of the Haliade-X 12 MW nacelle with hub is 713 tonnes
(Heavy Lift News, 2019). The nacelle will not be installed in pieces, so an installation
vessel needs to be able to lift it up to the top of the retracted telescopic tower. The
Haliade-X 12 MW tower weight is between 800-900 tonnes (Petche & Kellner, 2018),
the vessels able to lift this weight will also have to have a long crane reach since the
telescopic tower is about 65 meter high in retracted position. During marine operations it
is preferred few lift/mating/assembly-operations, therefore it will be preferred if the
tower can be sea-transported and lifted fully assembled. The reference installation vessel
will therefore be a 2nd generation installation vessels with 1000 tonnes lifting capacity
and long crane reach. To get an effective installation it is also important that the vessel
can carry several wind turbines at each trip, so available deck area, deck load capacity
and vessel payload (variable load/dead weight) is important. One full Haliade-X 12 MW
turbine weight is about 1700 tonnes.

Given the specification above the Taillevent will be selected as the reference installation
vessel. A picture of this vessel can be found in Figure 39 and typical specification is given
in Table 3. This reference vessel will be one of the smallest available vessels that still can
install a 12 MW telescopic tower wind turbine in an effective way. There are several other
vessels in the same category. Some of the vessels that just did not make the cut for the
specification could have a crane upgrade and then be back in the game.

For the HLCV the Gulliver is selected as reference installation vessel. A picture of this
vessel can be found in Figure 40 and typical specification is given in Table 4
 49

3.5.7.1 Taillevent

Figure 39 Taillevent – Offshore Jack-up Installation Vessel (Jan De Nul, 2019)

Table 3 Main specification Taillevent (Jan De Nul, 2019)

height over

Max water

DP system
capacity (t

depth (m)
Deck area
deck (m)
Variable

Persons
load (t)

Service

(knots)
Lifting

speed
Crane

(m2)
Year

2011 1000 ~100 6000 3600 40 112 11,7 DP2

@25m

See also Figure 68 and Figure 69 for illustration on how this install a 12 MW wind
turbine. A full animation of the installation is found in APPENDIX J 2D animation of
telescopic tower onshore assembly, transportation and installation.
 50

3.5.7.2 Gulliver

Figure 40 Gulliver (Jan De Nul, n.d.)

Table 4 Main specification Gulliver (Jan De Nul, n.d.)

height over

Max water

DP system
capacity (t

depth (m)
Deck area
deck (m)
Variable

Persons
load (t)

Service

(knots)
Lifting

speed
Crane

(m2)
Year

2018 2x2000 78,5 4598 2000 NA 78 DP2

The benefits of a telescopic wind turbine at installation with Gulliver is showed in

Figure 71. Getting the COG low during offshore operation is very important for this
installation concept.
 51

4 CHAPTER: APPLICATION OF THE METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS

4.1 Concept description telescopic mechanism

Figure 41 3D model of 12 MW wind turbine in retracted position

The concept for the telescopic mechanism is inspired by the single acting pin and hole
jacking system used for Jack-up rigs and described in Chapter 2.2.1.1.

The telescopic mechanism has the shoulders (hole equivalent) as an integrated part of the
inner wall of the lower tower. The jacking mechanism is on the inside of the tower and
the pins must move radially outwards to engage with the shoulders. The telescopic
mechanism will be mounted beneath the upper tower pushing it upward as the
mechanism climb with the power of hydraulic cylinders. The lower tower of a ≥12 MW
wind turbine will be relatively thick-walled to cope with forces and bending moment
from the enormous rotor during operation as well as resisting fatigue loads. For the
installation phase, when the tower mainly shall bear its self-weight, there will likely be
enough load bearing capacity in the shell of the lower tower to sustain point loads from
the pin and hole mechanism. It is however important to have the pin and hole
mechanism as close as possible to the tower wall to limit moments and forces that can
create high utilization and local buckling of the shell. The telescopic mechanism must
handle that the COG of the wind turbine assembly will be eccentric towards the rotor
side compared to the tower center. This is why the telescopic mechanism in Figure 42
below is showing 4 lifting points on the rotor side but only 2 on the back side. Any tilt of
the tower will also skew the loads at the bottom of the tower and environmental loads
might also come in play and need to be accounted for in the design.
 52

Figure 42 Telescopic mechanism inside tower (hydraulic pin and hole jacking mechanism)
 53

4.1.1 Telescopic mechanism overview

The telescopic mechanism consists of several components that is pointed out in Figure
43.

Figure 43 Telescopic mechanism overview

A. Shoulder
B. Pin
C. Cage
D. Pin linear actuator
E. Yoke
a. Yoke arm
b. Yoke ring
F. Spreader bar
G. Hydraulic cylinder (described in chapter for hydraulic system)
H. Access platform
I. Upper tower support
J. Horizontal support
K. Rotational support
 54

4.1.2 Hydraulic system overview

The hydraulic system necessary to power and control the telescopic mechanism is
showed in Figure 44

Figure 44 Hydraulic system overview

A. Hydraulic cylinder
B. Pressure intensifier
C. Hydraulic power unit (HPU)
D. Hoses (delivery/return)
E. Cooler
F. Control system
 55

4.1.3 Functional description of telescopic mechanism

Figure 45 Climb sequence of the telescopic mechanism

1. The hydraulic cylinders move the upper part of the telescopic mechanism in the
vertical direction as it climb the shoulders on the inner wall of the lower tower.
When the climbing sequence starts the hydraulic cylinders are contracted and
both the upper pins and the lower pins are engaged on the shoulders.
2. The hydraulic cylinders are pushed out just a little bit to release the load from the
upper pins so they can be retracted into the cages.
3. The hydraulic cylinders are stroked out to full length, the upper tower is lifted in
the same sequence as it is attached to the upper part of hydraulic cylinders.
4. The upper pins are pushed out and since the hydraulic cylinder stroke length is
slightly longer than the vertical distance between the shoulders there will be
some vertical gap between shoulder and pin allowing the pin to get extended to
the outer position. The hydraulic cylinders are then retracted, and the upper pins
are lowered to contact with the shoulders.
5. The upper pins/shoulders take over the full load of the upper tower and the lower
pins can be retracted into the cages.
6. The hydraulic cylinders are retracted to lift the lower part of the telescopic
mechanism.
7. When the hydraulic cylinders are fully retracted the pins are pushed out, the
hydraulic cylinders are lowered slightly so that the lower pins can get in contact
with the shoulders.
8. The lower pins take over the load of the upper tower and the whole sequence is
repeated until the telescopic mechanism and the upper tower get to the uppermost
position.
 56

4.1.4 Details of telescopic mechanism components

4.1.4.1 Shoulder
The shoulders shall transfer the load from the upper tower and the telescopic mechanism
to the wall of the lower tower. The stress in the shoulders and/or tower wall need to be
within allowed range for the specified material so the shoulders doesn’t fail. Also the
tower wall deformation need to be minor not to buckle the tower (Det Norske Veritas
and Wind Energy Department, Risø National Laboratory, 2009, p. 179).

The shoulder geometry needs to be narrow in the tower radial direction to allow the
upper tower to pass through the internal of the lower tower. To spread the load, the
shoulders needs to extend in the tower circumferential direction. A typical geometry can
be seen in Figure 46.

It is also important that the shoulders and their welds to the tower wall is designed to
minimize stress concentration to not limit fatigue life of the tower. To get a strong weld
a but weld is necessary, it is also recommended that the pieces welded together is of
equal thickness at the weld and that the material is symmetrical to each side of the center
axis (Det Norske Veritas and Wind Energy Department, Risø National Laboratory, 2009,
p. 176).

Figure 46 Typical geometry and weld between shoulder and shell (Dassault Systemes, 2019)

At manufacturing the plates are cut out for the shoulders before they go through the
rolling process. The shoulders are made with rounded transitions and a geometry like a
weld neck so that the part welded to the shell is higher/wider than the shoulder itself.
This requires more material, but it is done to get a good quality weld and to limit the
stress concentration at the shoulder. This geometry will also increase access to the weld.
The welding of shoulder to shell should be possible to automate in the same process as
when the tower plates are welded together.
 57

A simple FEA of design loads onto the shoulders is performed (self-weight distributed
evenly on 4 lugs on rotor side of tower). The vertical force applied to each shoulder
corresponds to the worst-case design loading including partial safety factors (material
and load factor), ref Chapter 3.5.5.5. Adding partial safety factors and loads together
give a vertical design load for each rotor side shoulder of = 1,1*1,35*1312/4*9,82*1000
= 4,8 MN. In Figure 47 and Figure 48 the result of the FEA show that the equivalent
stress and deformation is relatively modest at a 7m-diameter tower with wall thickness
40 mm (typical wall thickness of the Haliade-X 12 MW at the connection between upper
and lower tower sections). The analysis is performed at the uppermost part of the lower
tower where the shoulders are attached since this is the worst-case scenario, all other
tower section with shoulders will have larger wall thickness. The shell will bulk inward
above the shoulder and outward below the shoulder making the shoulder itself get a
downward slope.

Figure 47 Equivalent (von-Mises) Stress on uppermost shoulders at design load 4,8 MN/shoulder, upper picture
showing all 4 shoulder on the rotor side, lower picture is zoomed into the second shoulder from the left. (Ansys, 2019)
 58

Figure 48 Total deformation on uppermost shoulders at design load 4,8 MN/shoulder, upper picture showing all 4
shoulder on the rotor side, lower picture is zoomed into the second shoulder from the left. (Ansys, 2019)

Assuming the global buckling analysis is ok for a tower shell with diameter 7 m and wall
thickness of 40 mm (it is not scope for this thesis assignment to design the tower) the
deformation is checked with a local tower dent tolerance check.
 59

Figure 49 Tower shell dent tolerances (DNV, 2014, p. 179)

With definitions from Figure 49 If w/lr < 0,01 with lr = 4√𝑟𝑡 the local dent is not
affecting the tower stability

With local deformations from Figure 48 the local dent tolerance check is calculated to
w/lr ≈ 0,0013 which pass the criteria given for local dents.

In Figure 47 one can see that the equivalent stress is within elastic limit of a S355 steel.
There are some local stresses above 355 MPa but this should be acceptable since it is in
compression, also the highest stresses should be possible to avoid with improved
detailed design of the shoulder.

4.1.4.2 Pin
The pins transfer the load from the upper tower and the telescopic mechanism to the
shoulders in the lower tower wall. The geometry and function of the pin is showed in
Figure 50. The front part of the pins matches the geometry of the shoulders and the
tower wall. To pass the shoulders on the climb upwards the pins needs to move in the
radial direction. Linear actuators are mounted behind the pins to take care of this
movement.
 60

Figure 50 Upper picture show the pin in retracted position allowing the telescopic mechanism to pass the shoulder in
vertical direction, lower picture show the pin in extended position when it is engaged with the shoulder to lift the
upper tower.

In Figure 51 a pin is isolated to show the principal forces in play. At (A) the force from
the upper tower is applied. At (B) the pin rest at the shoulder, at this point the pin is
fixed from motion and a moment will try to turn the pin around this point. To counter act
the moment the pin will transfer forces to the cage at (C). To limit the moment and loads
transferred to the yoke it is important that the horizontal distance between (A) and (B) is
short and that the distance between (B) and (C) is larger. Since the shoulder need to be
narrow in the radial direction it needs to extend more in the circumferential direction to
get enough area to spread the load. The back part of the pin shall transfer loads and
moments to the cage/yoke, so this need instead to extend in the radial direction. This
make the pin look like a T. The T-shape will also limit the circumferential extension of
the cage and will give room for mounting the hydraulic cylinders (important since the
hydraulic cylinders need to extend higher than the upper pin.
 61

Figure 51 Forces and moment acting on the Pin

As described in Chapter 3.5.5.3 the back side of the telescopic mechanism can
experience a vertical force with upward direction due to tower turnover moment. To
cope with this the pins of the back side need to be designed also for this scenario. One
solution can be to have an extension on the pins making it possible to grip around the
shoulders. The cages then need to have a slotted hole in the bottom, see Figure 52.

The hydraulic cylinders are double acting, with the pull stroke having about 50% of the
capacity of the push stroke (Enerpac). Using the hydraulic cylinders on the back side in
pull while the hydraulic cylinders on the rotor side is pushing could work to counteract
the turnover moment but will make the control system more complicated.

Figure 52 Pin for the back side of the telescopic mechanism with additional grip to take upwards pointing loads from
tower turnover moment.
 62

4.1.4.3 Cage
Since the pins need to move radially the cage design need to allow this movement and
transfer the loads from the upper tower through the pins over to the lower tower. The
cages will also act as guides for radial movement of the pins. The cages will also have
attachments for the hydraulic cylinders and connections to the yoke arms. See details in
Figure 50.

4.1.4.4 Pin linear actuator

As described above the radial movement of the pins is provided by linear actuators. The
movement will be about 50mm between the outer positions. The pin movement will only
take place when the pins is unloaded so the force of the actuator need not to be large.
Actually, the actuator needs to be so week that it cannot pull back a loaded pin that
resting on a shoulder, this is a safety feature preventing the mechanism to lose its load
bearing capacity. The actuator can have different designs and a typical construction is
shown below.

Figure 53 Hydraulic heavy-duty linear actuator (Suthar, 2018)

The actuators can see axial loads when the telescopic mechanism is loaded (see chapter
on the yoke) and the actuators them self and their attachment to the yokes need to be
able to cope with these loads. The linear actuators need also to be possible to lock in
contracted/extended position. The design shown in Figure 53 is self-locking due to the
threaded rod that will not turn when loaded in axial direction. The motors of the linear
actuators will be hydraulic.
 63

4.1.4.5 Yoke
The yoke will act as frames for the telescopic mechanism. When the loads from the
upper tower are distributed to the cages/pins the yoke will act as a spring and absorb
forces as it deforms. With the yoke arms having an upwards slope towards the yoke ring
in unloaded condition the yoke will push the cages/pins radially outwards when the
telescopic mechanism get loaded. This will make the pins stay in position on the
shoulders even though the telescopic mechanism and the shoulders get deformed under
load.

4.1.4.6 Spreader bar

To avoid any misalignment/deformation of the yoke in the circumferential direction
spreader bars are connecting the neighboring cages.

4.1.4.7 Access platforms

For installation personnel to get access for the friction connection for torqueing bolts etc.
the telescopic mechanism is equipped with access platforms.

4.1.4.8 Upper tower support

To get the friction connection in the correct position for final tower assembly and to not
load the fingers of the upper tower during telescopic erection distance pieces (see Figure
54) are added between shoulders welded to the upper tower and the upper part of the
telescopic mechanism. These distance pieces can be removed one by one after the
accessible bolts of the friction connection are torqued. One distance piece is removed,
and any bolts hidden by this piece get torqued. The distance pieces also make the
deformation zone close to the shoulders not interfere with the friction surfaces of the
connection. The distance pieces follow the telescopic mechanism when it climbs down
after completed installation.

Figure 54 Upper tower support in magenta

 64

4.1.4.9 Horizontal support

The forces/moments acting on the upper tower during telescopic erection will result not
only in vertical loads but also in horizontal loads. These loads need to be transferred to
the lower tower. But as described in Chapter 3.5.2.2 it need to be a gap between the
lower tower and the upper tower to allow for relative movement during telescopic
erection. As can be seen in Figure 50 this can be solved with wheels mounted onto the
cages. The wheelbase will be larger than the shoulder length, so the wheels for the upper
and lower cages will be in contact with the wall of the lower tower all the time during
the telescopic erection.

4.1.4.10 Rotational guides

It is also be need for guiding the upper tower to prevent it from turning. It is especially
important to match the bolt holes in the friction connection between upper and lower
tower. The wheels used for horizontal support can also be used for rotational guiding as
the wheelbase fit to the shoulder width.

Any torque on the upper tower during loaded hydraulic cylinder stroke might get the
telescopic mechanism to skew which can cause a critical failure. To prevent this from
happen a rail (showed green in Figure 55) run along the complete height of the lower
tower. A rolling/sliding guide both on the upper and lower part of the telescopic
mechanism will run along this rail during the climb securing that the hydraulic cylinders
loaded only by vertical forces.

Figure 55 Rotational guide for telescopic mechanism, rail attached to lower tower in green.
 65

4.1.5 Details of hydraulic system components

4.1.5.1 Hydraulic cylinder
The hydraulic cylinders need to have high lifting capacity and long stroke length to limit
both number of hydraulic cylinders and number of shoulders. One such hydraulic
cylinder is the RRX0048 series in Figure 56 from Enerpac that could be a good option
for telescopic mechanism.

Figure 56 Enerpac RR20048 Hydraulic Cylinder (Enerpac)

At least one cylinder needs to be placed at each load point on the telescopic mechanism,
but due to consideration on contingency of function, component handling weight and the
design of the telescopic mechanism each load point will have cylinders in pairs and then
a smaller cylinder can be used. This make the selection fall on the RR20048 that have
lifting capacity of 221 tonnes per cylinder and stroke length of 1219 mm. 12 such
cylinders will handle the loads described in Chapter 3.5.5.5.

Since the hydraulic cylinders have longer retracted height than stroke length the cylinder
needs to be installed so that the distance between the upper and the lower pins is twice
the stroke length. This can be seen in Figure 43 as the top of the hydraulic cylinders are
higher than the upper cage.

For further details on the sizing of the hydraulic system, see APPENDIX G Calculation
of hydraulic system.

4.1.5.2 Pressure intensifier

The hydraulic cylinders require 700 bar oil pressure to lift the design capacity (Enerpac).
It will not be economical to build the complete hydraulic system at this pressure rating.
To increase the oil pressure only at the hydraulic cylinders a device called hydraulic
pressure intensifier can be used. This will increase the pressure entering the cylinder.
One pressure intensifier per hydraulic cylinder is enough. With the pressure intensifier
installed close to the hydraulic cylinder the rest of the hydraulic system can be designed
for a lower pressure. The details of the pressure intensifier can be found in APPENDIX
G Calculation of hydraulic system.
 66

4.1.5.3 Hydraulic Power Unit

It is important to size an HPU big enough to not make the tower erection take too long
time. An HPU can either be driven by a combustion engine or by an electric motor, to be
independent of other power sources a diesel driven HPU is selected for the concept of
this thesis assignment. Size and weight will be important since the HPU shall be
installed on the wind turbine external access platform and lifted with the platform crane.
A picture of a typical HPU is seen in Figure 57 and the details of the HPU sizing can be
found in APPENDIX G Calculation of hydraulic system.

Figure 57 Typical HPU for the telescopic mechanism (ACE Winches, n.d.)

4.1.5.4 Hoses
Long hydraulic hoses are needs since the hydraulic power source is placed on the
external platform and the active hydraulic components are placed on the telescopic
mechanism inside the tower. One hose supply pressurized oil to the hydraulic cylinders
and other hydraulic components. Another hose returns the hydraulic oil back to the oil
reservoir of the HPU. The hoses need to be about 80 meters each to cover the length
between the HPU and the telescopic mechanism at its highest elevation. The hoses need
to have pressure rating to handle the pressure from the HPU, they need to have a
diameter to limit the speed of the hydraulic oil and limit pressure drop. The details of the
hose selection can be found in APPENDIX G Calculation of hydraulic system.

It will also be need for smaller hoses installed locally on the telescopic mechanism to
distribute the hydraulic oil internally on the telescopic mechanism. These are not
detailed in this thesis assignment.
 67

4.1.5.5 Hose reel/hose guides

Since the telescopic mechanism can be both at the lowest and the highest position in the
lower tower the length of the hydraulic hoses needs to be flexible. The hydraulic hoses
also need to be routed from HPU to telescopic mechanism inside the tower where there
are all kinds of equipment and internal platforms. Guide sheaves is placed in selected
locations to manage the routing of the hoses. The hoses can also be reeled up on a hose
reel that release the hoses bit by bit as the telescopic mechanism climb, and that also reel
up the hoses as the telescopic mechanism climbs down.

4.1.5.6 Cooler
The losses in the hydraulic system will be converted to heat that warm up the hydraulic
oil. The oil shall not be too warm to keep oil properties within specification and not
damage seals and other parts of the hydraulic equipment (Øverby, 1990, p. 27). The heat
needs to be removed from the oil and a cooler is necessary. To be independent of utility
systems like cooling water a heat exchanger using air as cooling medium is selected, a
typical design can be seen in Figure 58. The fan of this cooler can be driven by the
hydraulic oil from the HPU. The unit will weigh about 35 kg and have the dimensions
L*W*H=0,6*0,7*0,4 (CCS Oil coolers, 2018). Since the maximum working pressure of
the cooler is ~26 bar the cooler is placed on the return line of the hydraulic system. It
will be placed outdoors next to the HPU on the external platform.

Figure 58 Hydraulic oil cooler (CCS Oil coolers, 2018)

The details of the cooling calculation and the fan selection can be found in APPENDIX
G Calculation of hydraulic system.
 68

4.1.5.7 Control System

The control system is needed to make sure that the telescopic erection can take place in a
controlled, effective and safe matter. The system is not detailed in this thesis assignment,
but it is expected that it will be similar to the control system of a pin and hole jacking
systems used for jack-up rigs. A few features of the control system are described below.

In the core of the system there will be a CPU with a dedicated software. There will also
be an HMI display where the human interaction with the system can take place. In the
hydraulic system it will be installed different valves that can direct the oil flow to the
places where it is needed. Instrumentation and sensors will measure parameters for the
hydraulic components and sensors on the telescopic mechanism will measure positions
and loads.

It is vital that the control system can stroke the cylinders in a precise and synchronized
way. One example of technology to do this is the CIMS system by Bosch Rexroth that
use a special coating on the hydraulic cylinder piston rod that together with external
magnetic sensors can measure stroke length at great accuracy (Bosch Rexroth). The
system also needs to have functions to prevent maloperation and dangerous situations.
Logic will for example make sure that the telescopic lift of the upper tower cannot
continue before it is confirmed that the lower pins are secured onto the shoulders.

The control system will also have other safety functions like PSV to release hydraulic
pressure if it gets too high and accumulators to provide hydraulic pressure on loss of
power or to absorb dynamic loads.

4.2 Concept description friction connection

4.2.1 Friction connection overview

The friction connection is described in Chapter 2.4.4.2. The Histwin-project ambition
for using the friction connection is that it can save material/weight/cost. The reason for
selecting this connection for the telescopic tower is not primarily for these savings but
beneficial geometry allowing the upper tower to elevate from inside the lower tower. A
conventional ring flanged connection will be a hindrance when the upper tower shall
mate with the lower tower. The friction connection will make it possible for the upper
tower to elevate from within the lower tower and the sequence for installation is showed
in Figure 59.
 69

Figure 59 Sequence of assembly of friction connection for telescopic tower

The friction connection used for the telescopic tower have slotted holes in the lowest
section of the upper tower. As the upper tower moves inside the lower tower the friction
surfaces will mate when the upper tower is at its highest elevation. If the friction surface
is made ever so slightly conical, then the upper tower can be pushed towards the friction
surface of the lower tower. Less initial gap will decrease required deflection of the
fingers of the slotted holes and allow shorter slotted holes. The TCB can be pre-installed
during onshore assembly in the lower tower. For the TCB not to collide with the upper
tower during erection clamps is holding each bolt in a position that will give room for
the upper tower to pass. Once the friction surfaces have aligned the TCB’s are pulled in
and the friction connection can be installed in the same way as described in Chapter
2.4.4.2.

Bolts can be torqued by a technician entering the platform of the telescopic mechanism
after it is placed in safe position, or it can be torqued by a robot.

One issue with the friction connection is that the connection needs to be sealed so that
water and salt do not corrode the bolts or enter inside the friction connection and the
tower. The sealing solution haven’t been studied in detail in this thesis assignment but
can potentially be done in different ways.
 70

• All components can be coated individually to be corrosion protected.

• The TCB bolt holes can be filled with sealant or grease.
• The washer on the bolt head side can have a bonded seal to prevent water ingress
• The mating surfaces of the friction connection could have static seals of rubber or
polymer, such seals can be made in segments or in one piece also for large
diameters (Ridderflex, n.d.)
• The outside of the friction connection could be covered with a coating, for
example Belzona 3412 (Belzona, n.d.), to protect from corrosion.
• The complete friction connection could be covered by an outside cover to protect
it from the elements.

4.2.2 Friction connection calculation

The friction connection can be sized using the Histwin Excel Tool (RFCS HISTWIN+
project, 2015). The input design forces to this design tool is described in APPENDIX E
Design load cases for connection of tower section.

The Histwin Excel Tool has input parameters as: material strength, material thickness,
friction coefficient, bolt material, bolt size, angle of spreading of the cone of
compression and allowed ratio of plastification in the fingers. As the friction connection
assembly is time critical the larger M64 TCB is selected. When loads and input
parameters are inserted the excel macro calculate the characteristics of the friction
connection: number of slotted holes, number of bolts, length of slotted holes etc. The
excel macro also check that the design fulfil design requirement for stress in the
materials and buckling.

The calculation shows that buckling of the fingers between the slotted holes is the main
issue when sizing the friction connection for the telescopic tower. With thicker shell at
the friction connection the free finger length needs to allow for closing the radial gap
between the inner and outer tower by deforming the fingers. Some iterations and
assumptions are needed to get a friction connection that can cope with the worst-case
design cases.

The friction connection sizing can be found in APPENDIX F1 Calculation of friction

connection. The calculation results in the friction connection sizing.

Table 5 Size of friction connection

finger (mm)

finger (mm)
Grade bolts
cover plate

coefficient
Thickness

Thickness

diameter

Bolts per
Material

Number
Friction

Slotted
fingers

Upper

Lower
(mm)

(mm)

holes

bolts
hole
Bolt

S355 70 8 0,5 10,9 M64 72 6 432 1230 1050

 71

4.3 Changes to tower design

4.3.1 Tower design changes to facilitate the telescopic tower

It will be need for some changes to a conventional tower design to facilitate the
telescopic function and the tower connection. It can be a challenge to have the lower
tower coned since the telescopic mechanism then have to cope with a varying cross
section, therefore the lower tower section is made as one cylindrical tower sections.

From APPENDIX B Tower dimensions the lower tower in one piece is ~50 meters, ~450
tonnes and max plate thickness 60 mm. From Chapter 2.4.2.1 the capacity of GRI
manufacturing facility in Sevilla is 50 meter and 350 tonnes tower sections. The weight
capacity of this manufacturing site is therefore a challenge. Maybe there is other
manufacturing sites available with capacity of heavier tower section, or the Sevilla site
can be upgraded to take more weight, or the lower tower section is made shorter (and the
upper tower section longer) to fit inside the weight restriction (this will make the
retracted tower a bit higher than if lower and upper tower is about equal in length).

Another tower adjustment needed is that the lower tower has to be coned at the top for
the upper tower both to pass the shoulders and also to mate the friction surfaces of the
permanent connection.

The last change to the tower is that the uppermost part of the lower tower needs to be
extended to cover the open slotted holes of the upper tower. Long slotted holes of the
friction connection give large overlap between lower and upper tower at the friction
connection which add material and weight. This overlap also need to be sealed off from
the environment and the upper most part of the lower tower need to extend to cover the
full length of the slotted holes. This overlap is not load bearing and can be made in a
thinner plate.

The tower characteristics can be seen in Figure 60.

 72

Figure 60 Telescopic mechanism at upper elevation. A) point on the lower tower being cylindrical and not coned, B)
show that the lower tower needs to be coned at the top for the upper tower to pass the shoulders and make the
friction surfaces of the connection to mate, C) show how the telescopic mechanism stand on the shoulders of the
cylindrical part of the lower tower when it is at its highest elevation, D) show that the uppermost part of the lower
tower need to be extended to cover the open slotted holes in the upper tower.
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4.3.2 Service lift

As described in Chapter 2.4.2.1 the tower need an elevator to get the technicians up to
the higher tower elevations and the nacelle. A typical service lift can carry up to 500 kg
and travel at up to 20m/min (BVG Associates, 2019, p. 54).

There are different designs of service lifts, some guided by rails, and others guided by
wire. For the telescopic tower it will be beneficial with use of a model using guide wires.

Figure 61 Turbine Service Lift (Power Climber Wind)

It is beneficial for the telescopic tower erection that technicians can access the tower
both when it is in retracted position and when it is at full height. As can be seen in
Figure 61 the service lift winch is installed on top of the cabin, the winch wire and the
guide wires are attached to a strong point at the top of the tower. For the service lift to
function for both retracted and full height tower a way of altering the length of the guide
wires is needed. If there are winches where the guide wires are anchored to the lower
part of the tower the guide wire length can be adjusted. If the winch is put in neutral and
breaks are disconnected the guide wires can follow the upper tower during telescopic
elevation. Once the tower is at full height the guide wire winches can tension the guide
wires and the service lift can be put in operation. The electric cable powering the winch
is hanging from below the cabin.
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Figure 62 Cut of telescopic wind turbine tower in retracted position showing service lift arrangement

As can be seen in Figure 62 the service lift can also be used to access the platforms on
the telescopic mechanism when the bolts of the friction connection shall be torqued.

The service lift access holes in the in internal platforms can be used for material
handling of telescopic mechanism when they are dismantled after completed telescopic
erection.

4.3.3 Ladders
As a compliment to the service lift, ladders in the full length of the tower are needed.
The ladders of the lower tower conflict with the upper tower when retracted into the
lower tower. As described earlier the clearance between upper and lower tower walls
when the tower is in retracted position is very limited. Tower internal access ladders for
the upper tower can be pre-installed but the access ladders for the lower tower need to
have a special design to suite the telescopic tower. One solution could be to have the
ladder with a fold out construction as seen in Figure 63. When the telescopic tower is in
retracted position the ladder is folded in to be close to the inner wall of the lower tower.
When the upper tower is erected the ladder can be folded out.
 75

Figure 63 A: Ladder for lower tower folded in close so it fit in the gap X between the lower tower and upper tower
walls. B: Ladder for lower tower folded out after the upper tower is at full height. C: Ladder for upper tower is fixed.

Ladders of the base tower and the upper tower can be pre-installed and fixed like on a
conventional tower. Ladders will also provide access to the top of the foundation.

4.3.4 Access platforms

To provide resting places for workers climbing the ladders, to prevent falling objects and
to give access for inspection and maintenance inside the tower platforms is needed at
specific heights (BVG Associates, 2019, p. 54). Since no platforms can be installed in
the lower tower before the tower erection they need to be installed after erection. One
way to perform this installation can be to have simple platforms pre-installed on top of
the telescopic mechanism. These platforms can be automatically installed as the
telescopic mechanism climbs down after the tower erection is finished. Lugs at specific
places on the inner wall of the lower tower can match anchor points on the platforms, as
the telescopic mechanism pass each lug on the way down the platform with matching
anchor points connect to the lugs, releases from the telescopic mechanism and the
platform is installed

4.3.5 Lighting
As can be seen in Figure 61 lighting fixtures is mounted to the inner wall of the tower to
light up the internals of the tower. These cannot be mounted in the conventional way in
the lower tower. An alternative way is to install these on the platforms/cable supports
that are installed as the telescopic climb back down after the upper tower is installed.
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4.3.6 Cable routing

Cables for power and signals need to run through the inside of the tower between the
nacelle and the bottom of the tower. Cables are often installed in cable ladders along the
inner wall of the tower or as can be seen in Figure 61 along the access ladder. With the
telescopic mechanism climbing the inner wall of the lower tower this must be changed.
One way to do this is to let the cables run in the center of the tower through the yoke
ring and the holes in the center of all access platforms. Before telescopic tower erection
the excess length of the cables can be coiled up on the upper access platform of the base
tower. Once the telescopic mechanism starts to climb the cables will be hanging loose
between the bottom of the lower tower and the telescopic mechanism. When the tower is
erected, and the telescopic mechanism climb down it can install supports/platforms as
described in Chapter 4.3.4.

To get the cables firmly supported for operation, allow for twisting (from nacelle yaw
motions) and prevent cable wear a cable management like the SOHL system showed in
Figure 64 can be used. The SOHL is a clamp securing the cables and providing good
heat dissipation. (Dvorak, 2017)

Figure 64 SOHL cable-management system (Dvorak, 2017)

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4.3.7 Material handling inside tower

To assemble and disassemble the telescopic mechanism inside the tower there will be
need for material handling aids. These aids can be for example lifting lugs/beams, davits,
air hoists or manual lifting equipment. These items shall facilitate effective material
handling of the capital parts of the telescopic mechanism.

4.3.8 External platform and crane

An offshore wind turbine has an external platform at the base of the tower boats as
showed in Figure 65, it is used for access and for material handling. The platform has a
cargo landing area and a crane. For the telescopic mechanism these items need to be
designed to cope with the size and weight of the HPU and the parts from the telescopic
mechanism that shall be disassembled after final erection.

Figure 65 External platform and crane for an offshore wind turbine (Sparrows, n.d.)
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4.4 Installation

4.4.1 Assembly of telescopic tower at shore

The wind turbine components arrive one by one to the port from where they shall be
shipped to the offshore site. It is beneficial to minimize offshore wind turbine assembly
operations both due to time efficiency of the offshore installation and due to the
difficulty to mate components in the offshore environment. Therefore, the telescopic
tower is assembled and tested onshore before the whole tower is lifted onto a wind
turbine installation vessel.

For the onshore assembly a crane is needed, the specification needs to handle lifting
height, lifting weight and boom angle for the assembly. To not have any flanges
obstructing the path of the telescopic mechanism the lower tower is manufactured in one
piece. This make the lower tower section long and heavy. The upper tower is installed in
two sections. The telescopic mechanism and the 1st section of the upper tower need to be
installed onto the base tower before installing the lower tower since the radius of these
items is larger than the hole on top of the lower tower due to the geometry of the friction
connection. A crawler crane can be used for the assembly, these are often used for wind
turbine erection onshore. In Table 6 the tower sections dimension and weight are listed
for the 12 MW reference turbine. To limit the lifting height of the lower tower section
the 1st upper tower section need to be so short that the overall lifting height of the lower
tower section is as low as possible but the 1st upper tower section height also need to be
high enough to make the radius of the 2nd upper tower section fit into the hole on top of
the lower tower. In Figure 66 the sequence of the onshore telescopic tower assembly is
described.

Table 6 Tower section weight and height

Part Weight (tonnes) Height (m)

Upper Tower Section 2 162 38

Upper Tower Section 1 55 10

Lower Tower 456 50

Base Tower 147 12

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Figure 66 (1) Telescopic mechanism installation (optionally installed piece by piece offshore), (2) Upper tower section
1 installation (3) Lower tower installation (4) Upper tower section 2 installation (5) Tower final assembly (6) Tower
onshore test (7) Tower collection by installation vessel

In Figure 67 a crawler crane is specified that can lift the 456 tonnes lower section in
place at boom length 96 m (red circle in figure). When the 162 tonnes 2nd upper tower
section shall be lifted the crane is re-configured to a longer boom length (150 m) (blue
circle in figure)
 80

Figure 67 Liebherr LR11000 Crawler Crane (Liebherr, 2015)

4.4.2 Sea transport

A sea-fastening system that firmly attach the upper tower to the lower tower during
offshore transport and lifting is needed to secure that these parts do not move and
collide. The sea fastening system will also limit the dynamic forces on the parts of the
telescopic mechanism during transport and lifting. The sea-fastening system shall be
possible to disconnect when the upper tower elevation operation starts.
The lower COG of the telescopic tower compared to a conventional full height tower
will be beneficial for sea transport since the metacenter of the loaded installation vessel
will be lower and the transportation more stable.

4.4.3 Lift/mating with foundation

At the offshore site the foundation is already installed, and the installation vessel get into
position close to the foundation before it starts jacking the legs to get into final lifting
position. The installation vessel crane collects one telescopic tower and lift it into
position over the foundation as showed in Figure 68. The internal sea fastening of the
upper tower to the lower tower shall still be installed to prevent the dynamics of the
lifting operation to put unwanted loads onto the telescopic mechanism.
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Figure 68 Offshore installation of a telescopic tower with a jack-up installation vessel

The connection between tower and foundation is done with guides and dampers to
perform the mating operation without damaging any components. Personnel are standing
ready on top of the foundation to assist and to perform the final connection between
tower and foundation.

The nacelle and hub assembly get installed on top of the upper tower while it still is in
retracted position. The rotor blades are installed one by one onto the hub as showed in
Figure 69. The rotor needs temporary means to rotate into optimal position for each
blade installation.

Figure 69 Nacelle and blade installation of a telescopic tower with a jack-up installation vessel

More information on the telescopic onshore and offshore installation can be found in
APPENDIX J 2D animation of telescopic tower onshore assembly, transportation and
installation
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4.4.4 Erection
When the connection between tower and foundation is finalized there is no need for the
installation vessel anymore so it can move on installing the next wind turbine. The crew
and equipment necessary for the telescopic erection can be transported by a Crew
Transfer Vessel (CTV) or a Service Operation Vessel (SOV). The CTV shall be able to
carry a crew of at least 4 persons and carry the rental HPU and the capital parts of the
telescopic mechanism that are reused on different turbines.

Figure 70 CTV Attender accessing an offshore turbine (Offshorewind.biz, n.d.)

The CTV named Attender, from Northern Offshore Services AB, have a typical
specification for this job. It has deck area of 63 m2 and load capacity of 15 tonnes
(Offshorewind.biz, n.d.). As seen in Figure 70 the CTV dock the boat landing on the
wind turbine foundation and the crew can climb up to the access platform. Cargo can be
unloaded/loaded with the crane on the wind turbine platform.

The crew perform the final preparation, removing the sea fastening, connecting the
hydraulic power system and make a final check/test so that everything is ready for
telescopic erection. They start the hydraulic power system from the platform and the
telescopic mechanism start its climb to the top. The crew will monitor the operation and
make sure it progresses as intended, they are also ready to interact if any issues occur.

When the telescopic mechanism has climbed to the top it locks in safe position. The
crew can climb the ladders or take the elevator up to the telescopic mechanism where
they install the bolts of the friction connection.
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4.4.5 Dismantling the telescopic mechanism

When the telescopic erection is completed, and the friction connection is in place, the
telescopic mechanism is detached from the upper tower and can climb down the lower
tower the same way it climbed up. When the telescopic mechanism is at the bottom of
the tower the hydraulic oil is drained back to the tank on the HPU and the hydraulic
hoses is disconnected and reeled up on the external platform. The hydraulic cylinders
and other capital parts are disassembled and lifted down through a hatch to the cargo
landing on the external platform. From there it can be lifted/rigged/skidded out to the
external platform. From the platform the components are lifted onto the CTV with the
platform crane. The parts of the telescopic mechanism that are not considered capital
parts are left inside the lower tower firmly secured to stay in place throughout the wind
turbine lifetime.

4.4.6 Alternative installation with floating crane vessel

It can also be beneficial for some projects to install the wind turbine fully assembled by
a floating vessel, either a HLCV or a SSCV. Also, with this method it is a benefit of
getting the overall height and the COG low. Performing this lift the lifting equipment is
attached to the bottom of the tower and a stabilization frame is connected above the
COG as can be seen in Figure 9 and Figure 71.

Figure 71 Left: Installation of full height 12 MW wind turbine with Gulliver, the COG is higher than crane and the lift
will be unstable. Right: Installation of retracted telescopic tower for a 12 MW wind turbine with Gulliver, the COG is
lower than crane and the lift is stable.
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4.5 Business case of telescopic tower installation

4.5.1 Use of smaller/cheaper/more available installation vessels technical

feasibility
If the telescopic wind turbine tower can make it possible to install ≥12 MW wind
turbines offshore with existing fleet of 2nd and/or 3rd generation installation vessels it can
be one business case for the technology. Figure 72 show Jan De Nul’s fleet of
installation vessels together with the typical wind turbine size they install.

The Voltaire (4th generation installation vessel) is under construction and will be put in
service in 2022 (Jan De Nul, 2019). It has already been awarded a contract for installing
the Haliade X 12 MW wind turbine at the Dogger Bank Wind Farm in the North Sea
(Jan De Nul, 2019). This installation vessel will probably also handle future 15 MW
wind turbines with conventional installation method.

The Vole Au Vent is installing 9,5 MW wind turbines at the Northwester 2 project in
Belgium North Sea (Jan De Nul, 2019)

The Taillevent is installing 6,2 MW wind turbines at the Trianel Windpark Borkum II in
German North Sea (Durakovic, Taillevent heads to Trianel Windpark Borkum II, 2019)

Figure 72 Voltaire, Vole au vent, Taillevent (Jan De Nul, 2019)

 85

As Figure 72 show it will not be possible to use the 2nd or 3rd generation installation
vessels for conventional installation of a 12 MW wind turbine. But if the 12 MW wind
turbine can be halved in height at the lift/assembly offshore even the 2nd generation
Taillevent could be used for the installation as indicated in Figure 73. The Taillevent
crane reach and lifting capacity is acceptable for installing the retracted telescopic tower
in one lift and to install the 700-tonne nacelle on top.

Figure 73 12 MW telescopic tower lifted onto foundation and nacelle/blades installed on top by Taillevent

The Taillevent have deck area and load capacity to transport three 12 MW telescopic
wind turbines.

Voltaire still have an advantage over the other two installation vessels since the crane
capacity, deck area and load carrying capacity is more than double. Since Voltaire can
carry more wind turbines at once it has potential for a more effective installation
campaign. Voltaire will also manage deeper sea than its smaller siblings.

4.5.2 Use of smaller/cheaper/more available installation vessels economic

feasibility
As the ≥12 MW wind turbines get commercially available in the early 2020’s there will
be many projects competing for a few 4th generation installation vessels. In Figure 74
the future jack-up demand is showed, all the projects will not install ≥12 MW but as
described in Chapter 2.1.1 the economic benefits of using big wind turbines is large so
many of the projects will need the biggest installation vessels.
 86

Figure 74 Global demand for jack up vessels set to rise until 2028 (Naschert, 2019)

Probably only the three biggest of the existing installation vessels will be able to handle
12 MW wind turbine installation according to Clarksons Platou (Naschert, 2019). There
are only a few larger 4th generation installation vessels under construction as can be seen
in Figure 75.

Figure 75 Current status of large installation vessels (Naschert, 2019)

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WindEurope estimate the need for new installations vessels able to handle the ≥12 MW
wind turbines are at least 10 with a capacity of 100 wind turbines/foundations a year
(Naschert, 2019). The rates for these 4th generation installation vessels will then be
relatively high due to low supply and high demand.

4.5.3 Charter rate difference between 2nd and 4th generation installation vessels
Since the installation vessel market is competitive the rate for each vessel is not publicly
available. Also, the rate varies with supply and demand. To get an economical
comparison between Voltaire installing a 12 MW turbine the conventional way and
Taillevent installing a 12 MW telescopic wind turbine charter rate information from a
study performed at the University of Strathclyde Glasgow in 2013 is used (Dalgic,
Lazakis, & Turan). This study compares charter day rates with the investment cost of
typical installation vessels. The study uses bareboat charter rates. The data in Figure 76
is for short term charter since this is installation activities and not operation and
maintenance activities.

Figure 76 Estimated jack-up installation vessel charter rates 2nd and 3rd generation installation vessels (Dalgic,
Lazakis, & Turan)

A 4th generation installation vessel cost more than 320 million US-dollar (Naschert,
2019) equal to above 210 million Euro. The very largest 4th generation installation
vessels can even cost over 400 million Euro (Shimizu Corporation, 2019). The chart in
Figure 76 does not go up to this CAPEX. A linear interpolation of the graph to also
cover higher CAPEX is therefore conducted in Figure 77, the Euro currency is used.
 88

Estimated Jack-up Vessel Charter Rates

300

250
Daily charter rate k€

200

150

100

50

0
0 50 100 150 200 250
CAPEX M€

Figure 77 Estimated Jack-up Vessel Charter Rates interpolated to include 4th generation vessels

The 4th generation installation vessel got a Daily Charter Rate of about 260 k€ when
interpolated based on a CAPEX of 210 M€.
The University of Strathclyde -study was performed in 2013, but due to oversupply of
installation vessels the ship rental rates are currently 30% lower than in the early 2010-
decade (Paulsson, Hodges, & Martin, 2019). Since most wind farm developers want to
install the biggest available wind turbines it can be expected a bottle neck in 4th
generation installation vessels pushing the rates for this segment higher, and since the 2nd
and 3rd generation installation vessels cannot install 12 MW wind turbines in a
conventional way the rates for these could drop even further in the 2020 decade.
Therefore, the rate of the 2nd generation installation vessel is set to ~70% of the rate
presented in Figure 77 for the economical comparison. An average 2nd generation
installation vessel (the data points in red circle in Figure 77) has a CAPEX of 135 M€
with an average Daily Charter Rate of 160 k€ (Dalgic, Lazakis, & Turan) and corrected
for dropping rates in the 2020’s the Daily Charter Rate is set to 112 k€ for this economic
comparison.
To make a comparison it is also necessary to get the time required to install the wind
turbine. For this purpose, I use data from a study that have collected wind farm
installation data from 2000-2017. I am interested in the time required for installation of a
wind turbine onto a pre-installed monopile foundation, this can be seen in Figure 78.
 89

Figure 78 Installation days per turbine (Lacal-Arantegui, Yusta, & Domingues-Navarro, 2018)

The wind turbines have grown bigger from 2000 to 2017 so the days per MW have
decreased since the installation time per turbine is not very dependent on turbine size. A
typical offshore wind turbine installation per 2020 is completed in 4 days (vary between
2-7 days depending on project).

The installation time will be dependent on many factors. Distance to shore and sea depth
will be important project specific parameters. If the installation vessel needs to travel far
to collect new wind turbines or if the jacking takes long time with deeper sea the
installation might take longer time. As described in Chapter 4.5.1 the 4th generation
vessels have larger load carrying capacity and larger deck space and can carry more
wind turbines for each trip. How big effect this will have will be project dependent but to
account for this in the comparison I set installation days for the 4th generation installation
vessel to 3 and for the 2nd generation installation vessel to 5.

Installing 1 off 12 MW wind turbine with a 4th generation installation vessel cost:
260k€ * 3 = 780 k€

Installing 1 off 12 MW telescopic wind turbine with a 2nd generation installation vessel
cost:
112k£ * 5 = 560 k€ + 124k€ the additional cost of telescopic mechanism and related
operation, see Chapter 4.5.6.5
Total cost 680 k€

The difference for installing 1 off 12 MW turbine with conventional tower and a 4th
generation installation vessel compared to a telescopic tower installed with a 2nd
generation installation vessel is estimated to be about ~100 k€/wind turbine in favor of
the telescopic tower method.
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4.5.4 Extend life of installation vessels

With the wind turbine size continuously increasing the technical feasibility of the
installation vessels get outdated quickly. A lifetime of about 25 years would be healthy
for the ship owners but today the lifetime is below 10 years before the vessels get to
small for the newest wind turbines. (Ulstein, 2019)

With the telescopic wind turbine tower the technical and economic lifetime of the 2nd
and 3rd generation installation vessels can be increased. If the 2nd and 3rd generation
installation vessels compete with the 4th generation installation vessels they could claim
charter rates closer to the rates of 4th generation installation vessels (if the cost of the
telescopic tower is included in the charter rates)

For the ship owners hesitating to invest in new installation vessels a telescopic wind
turbine tower would ease the decision since it will decrease the risk of much higher wind
turbines in the future.

4.5.5 Extra revenues from increased power production

With the potential shortage of 4th generation installation vessels in the 2020’s some
project might be forced to go for smaller wind turbines or postpone installation/start-up
until a 4th generation installation vessel is available.

If the telescopic tower can make possible installation of a 12 MW wind turbine where
only 9,5 MW wind turbine can be installed with conventional installation method the
extra income potential will be about 16 M€/wind turbine given a design life of 25 years,
a capacity factor of 0,65 (GE Renewable Energy, n.d.) and an electricity price of 45
€/MWh (Mathis, 2019). All this revenue cannot be allocated the telescopic function
since a larger wind turbine will increase the CAPEX. Estimating that a turbine cost is
1000 €/kW and that there is no difference in €/kW between a 9,5 MW wind turbine and
a 12 MW wind turbine (something made possible by technological advancements as
described in Chapter 2.1.1) (US Department of Energy - Office of Energy Efficiency &
Renewable Energy, 2019, p. 60). The difference in CAPEX between a 12 MW and a 9,5
MW wind turbine is then 2,5 M€/wind turbine. And the net revenue difference is 13,5
M€/wind turbine (not present value adjusted)

If the telescopic tower can make possible installation of a 12 MW wind turbine one year
earlier than what is possible with 4th generation installation vessel bottlenecks the extra
income potential will be about 3 M€/wind turbine a year.

The extra income potential described above can then be multiplied with the number of
wind turbines in the park.
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4.5.6 Cost of the telescopic mechanism

The cost and weight estimation of the telescopic tower is divided into four categories.
4.5.6.1 Permanently installed equipment
The first category is for equipment permanently installed in each wind turbine tower.
This includes the additional material cost and manufacturing cost of the shoulders. Also,
the parts of the telescopic mechanism that are not considered capital parts and therefore
will be left inside the tower is included, typically yoke and platforms. These costs need
to be added for each wind turbine unit.
The details of the cost estimation can be found in APPENDIX H Master Equipment List.
The material and manufacturing costs of the shoulders and other permanent
modifications to the tower estimates to ~45 k€/wind turbine. The parts of the telescopic
mechanism that are left inside the tower estimates to ~5 k€/wind turbine.
4.5.6.2 Capital parts
The second category is the capital parts that are expensive special equipment that need to
be procured. Here the hydraulic cylinders, pins, cages, linear actuators, control system,
hydraulic hoses, pressure intensifiers, hydraulic oil cooler etc. belongs. These
components will be moved from one wind turbine to the next during wind farm
installation. These costs will decrease per turbine the more turbines they install.
Assuming that one operation (including telescopic mechanism installation, tower
erection and telescopic mechanism disassembly) take about 1 week and that installation
is only possible in the summer half of the year it is estimated that each telescopic
mechanism can be used for 20 wind turbines a year. Estimating a technical lifetime of 10
years of each telescopic mechanism the cost of capital spares can be divided on 200
wind turbines.
The details of the cost estimates can be found in APPENDIX H Master Equipment List.
The equipment cost of the capital parts is estimated to ~800 k€/telescopic mechanism, or
4 k€/wind turbine.
4.5.6.3 Day rent equipment
The third category is equipment that can be rented. Here the main parts are the CTV, the
crew and the HPU. This equipment cost only for the days it is rented. The equipment
will be moved from one wind turbine to the next during wind farm installation. With the
assumption that each operation (including telescopic mechanism installation, tower
erection and telescopic mechanism disassembly) take 7 days the daily rates get
multiplied with 7 to get the cost for each wind turbine.
The details of the cost estimation can be found in APPENDIX H Master Equipment List.
The rental equipment cost including cost of personnel is estimated to ~10 k€/ day, or ~70
k€/wind turbine.
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4.5.6.4 Technology development cost

It will also be technology development cost for the telescopic tower that probably will be
significant, but it is too difficult to estimate. This cost will be divided on many telescopic
mechanisms if the concept is a success so the share for each unit will be low, therefore
these costs are disregarded in this thesis assignment.

4.5.6.5 Summary cost of telescopic mechanism

Adding the numbers of Chapter 4.5.6.1, Chapter 4.5.6.2 and Chapter 4.5.6.3 give a cost
of approximately 124 k€/wind turbine.

4.5.7 Economic scenario for a typical project size

In the chapters above the revenues and costs have been showed for one wind turbine.
But the most interesting numbers are for wind parks installing many wind turbines or for
an installation vessel installing many wind turbines.

All projects are different and there are many parameters to be optimized depending on
for example, size, number of wind turbines, sea depth, distance to shore, country etc. As
a business case exercise a theoretical project of 50 off 12 MW wind turbines installed on
monopiles in the North Sea is analyzed. The project has all legal, technical and
commercial aspects ready for installation in summer 2022 but the project cannot source
one of the few 4th generation installation vessels for installing the 12 MW wind turbines.
The analysis has the perspective of the wind farm owner that calculate both revenues and
costs for the complete wind farm.

The project has three options:

1. Install 12 MW telescopic wind turbines with a 2nd or 3rd generation installation
vessel readily available for startup as planned 2022.
2. Delay installation and start up with one year and install 12 MW conventional
wind turbines when a 4th generation vessel is available. With the numbers from
Chapter 4.5.5 the project income will decrease with approximately 150 M€ over
the lifetime of the wind park compared to option 1.
3. Install smaller 9,5 MW wind turbines with a 2nd or 3rd generation installation
vessel readily available for startup as planned 2022. With the numbers from
Chapter 4.5.5 the project income will decrease with approximately 675 M€ over
the lifetime of the wind park (not present value adjusted).
X It can also be made a comparison if a 4th generation installation vessel gets
available for the project in 2022 anyway. With the numbers from Chapter 4.5.2
option X is 5 M€ more expensive than option 1

It needs to be pointed out that the above comparison is very generalized and shall only
be understood as a way of explaining the potential economic benefit of the telescopic
wind turbine tower. Each project will have its own characteristic that will affect the
outcome of the comparison.
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5 CHAPTER: DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

5.1 Benefits of the telescopic tower concept

The main benefit of the telescopic tower is that the overall height and the vertical COG
is kept low during sea transport, offshore lifting and installation of the nacelle and rotor.
This make offshore transportation and installation easier and potentially less weather
sensitive.

The telescopic tower facilitate installation of ≥12 MW wind turbines with the use of
existing installation vessel fleet. Many of these vessels are smaller/cheaper/more available
than the new 4th generation installation vessels purpose built for the bigger wind turbines.
The Taillevent with lift capacity of 1000 tonnes was selected as reference installation
vessel for the telescopic tower installation since it managed to lift the complete 821-tonne
tower in one lift, but the installation vessels with 800 tonnes crane can either be upgraded
to stronger cranes or the tower can be installed in two parts, for example by installing the
base section first and then installing the rest of the tower. It is an existing fleet world wide
of about 22 jack-up installation vessels, 4 HCLV’s and 5 SSCV’s that have the potential
to install a 12 MW telescopic wind turbine (see APPENDIX A Inventory of installation
vessels). Together with a couple of larger vessels under construction this fleet, with the
use of the telescopic tower, can fill most of the demand for installation vessels expected
in the 2020’s (see Figure 74). The potential installation vessel bottle neck that can be
expected in the 2020’s with conventional installation methods can be avoided as the
telescopic tower installation method will extend the life of the existing installation vessel
and it will be less need for new and expensive 4th generation installation vessels. This
might also make projects come into operation earlier or make possible installation of larger
wind turbines than otherwise possible with conventional installation methods.

For the 4th generation installation vessels that will be constructed in the future the
opportunity of the telescopic tower installation method will give a comfort to the ship
owners that the vessels will not be obsolete too quickly. The telescopic tower installation
method will keep these vessels in the game potentially also for installation of future 20
MW wind turbines.

The main benefits of the telescopic tower concept of this thesis assignment compared to
competing technologies described in Chapter 2.3 is that it uses the tubular steel tower
that is the main design of offshore wind turbines today, it can be installed to any type of
foundation and it ease any type of offshore wind turbine installation method described in
Chapter 2.2.

The focus of this thesis assignment has been to use the telescopic tower in the
installation phase. However, the possibility to retract the tower into the foundation at the
wind farm also provide potential additional benefits of:
 94

• Easier heavy maintenance/change-out of blades and nacelle that can be

performed without specialized vessels.
• Easier decommissioning
• Lowering the tower into the foundation before a typhoon will decrease loads on
the assembly in extreme conditions.

5.2 Down sides of the telescopic tower concept

Technically the disadvantage of the telescopic tower is that it complicates the tower
manufacturing and increase the installed weight slightly. There will also be more welds
in the tower that can be negative from a fatigue perspective.

The fact that the friction connection can be exposed to the element and need corrosion
protection and environmental seal could be a disadvantage. If the bolts of the friction
connection need replacement it will be challenging since they need to be inserted from
the outside of the tower at high elevation.

The development cost and the CAPEX for a single telescopic mechanism is large. These
costs need to be spread on many units to make the telescopic tower economical.
Economy of scale is therefore important for the economic success.

5.3 Fulfillment of telescopic tower concept criteria

Chapter 3.5.1 list criteria that the telescopic tower concept should fulfil. The final
concept fulfils the primary goal of keeping the overall height and COG low in the
installation phase. The overall height of the 12 MW wind turbine tower is about 64
meter in retracted position compared to the 111-meter full height tower. The vertical
COG measured from the base of the retracted tower is 32 meters compared to 44 meters
for the full height tower. For a fully assembled wind turbine the telescopic tower lowers
the vertical COG from 81 meters to 51 meters. The lower height and COG make it easier
to ship and install the tower fully assembled and could potentially decrease the number
of offshore mating operation compared to conventional installation of a 12 MW wind
turbine.

As described in Chapter 4.5 the telescopic tower is cost effective in comparison with
conventional installation methods, the cost of the tower will increase but this is weighed
up by the possibility to use cheaper and more available installation vessels. Making the
telescopic mechanism possible to disassemble and reuse for several wind turbines
decrease the cost of the telescopic function for each wind turbine.

The design, both telescopic mechanism and the friction connection, is relatively simple
and is based on proven technology from other areas like jack-up rigs and onshore wind
towers. The erection of a telescopic tower for a 12 MW wind turbine is a risky operation
but the telescopic mechanism will be designed to perform the operation in a controlled
and safe manner. The control system will be vital for the safe operation, sensors and
 95

instruments need to make sure that the system is in safe position before continuing with
the next step of the climb. Also, the telescopic mechanism will be designed with
contingency functions in case something goes wrong along the telescopic erection and it
shall be possible to revert the telescopic mechanism back to a safe position until the
malfunction can be fixed. The safety and control system are not designed in detail in this
thesis assignment but since the principle build on proven design from the jack-up rigs it
should be possible to get a safe operation of the telescopic mechanism.

The telescopic tower needs to change some part of the conventional tower design. The
shoulders are welded to the wall of the lower tower, but as these are installed as part of
the wall the permanently installed weight increase will be small. The shoulders are only
sticking out a few centimeters from the inner wall of the lower tower and create a
straight force path for the loads distributed from the upper tower, the forces and
deformations at the shoulder will be within acceptable range. The friction connection is a
change to the conventional design using ring flanges, this design is however proven from
the onshore wind industry and can have benefits that lower tower cost. The telescopic
mechanism is installed on the inside and the outside of the tower will be smooth like the
conventional tower design. As the friction connection secure the tower sections
permanently the telescopic mechanism can be dismantled and is therefore not part of
tower integrity during the operational phase.

As the telescopic mechanism is placed inside the tower it will be protected from weather
and marine environment. The friction connection however can be exposed to the
elements. How to protect the friction connection from water and salt is not studied in
detail in this thesis assignment but some suggestions is listed in Chapter 4.2.1.

Time is critical for any wind turbine installation, both to fit the weather window and to
limit cost. It has been an ambition to keep the telescopic tower erection below 12 hours.
The time for the telescopic mechanism climb is dependent on the sizing of the hydraulic
system, but larger hydraulic components increase cost, size and weight so an
optimization is necessary. With the hydraulic system designed in APPENDIX G
Calculation of hydraulic system the climb of the telescopic mechanism will take about 4
hours (and 2 hours for the telescopic mechanism to climb back down). The time for
torqueing bolts of the friction connection as designed in APPENDIX F1 Calculation of
friction connection is 7,2 hours, but if for example 3 technicians (or a robot) torque the
bolts it take about 2,5 hours. This leaves about 3,5 hours for other activities in the
erection to keep within the 12 hours limit, which should be possible. It is also necessary
to limit the time necessary to install/dismantle the telescopic mechanism, this have not
been studied in detail, but it is expected that this can be kept to a few days by designing
the equipment for effective mounting/dismantling and material handling.
 96

5.4 Comparison telescopic tower with competing concepts

5.4.1 Conventional installation with 4th generation installation vessels

The benefit of the conventional installation method with a large installation vessel is that
this is a known method/technology for the industry. Also, many installation vessels
install both turbine and foundation and the telescopic tower do not help installation of
bigger foundations necessary for ≥12 MW wind turbines and sites with deeper sea. The
new 4th generation vessels will also carry more wind turbines for each trip and operate at
deeper sea depth.

The downside with the 4th generation installation vessels is that they are expensive and a
scarce resource in market creating a bottleneck in the wind industry.

The telescopic tower should be a compliment to the 4th generation installation vessels
since it re-vitalizes the existing vessel fleet of 2nd and 3rd generation installation vessels
and preventing the installation vessel bottleneck. The telescopic mechanism could also
be of interest of the 4th generation vessels if the wind turbines grow above 15 MW in the
future.

5.4.2 Elisa technology

The Elisa technology does not need an offshore installation vessel at all. But it is limited
to self-buoyant gravity-based foundations that only fit specific sites or floating wind
(where the Telwind-concept is under development). The telescopic tower of this thesis
assignment can be installed on any type of foundation and especially the monopile or
jacket that are the most used foundations type today. The gravity base foundation only
have a market share of 8,8% of the future projects that have disclosed its foundation type
as described in Figure 79 (US Department of Energy - Office of Energy Efficiency &
Renewable Energy, 2019, p. 45).
 97

Figure 79 Market info on foundation types used for offshore wind (US Department of Energy - Office of Energy
Efficiency & Renewable Energy, 2019, p. 45)

The telescopic mechanism of the Elisa technology is placed on the outside of the tower
and is exposed to the elements. It also need scaffolding on the outside of the tower for
access and when the mechanism needs to be dismantled it is at a high elevation. The
telescopic tower of this thesis assignment has the mechanism on the inside of the tower
protected from the elements, the telescopic mechanism can also climb down to a low
elevation before it is dismantled.

The solution for attaching the tower segments permanently in the Elisa technology is
also exposed to the elements and might suffer similar issues as the friction connection
with sealing off the connection from the environment and preventing corrosion of the
connection. The Elisa technology however only need to worry about the bolts of the
connection since the concrete does not have the same corrosion issues as steel.

The Elisa technology use prefabricated tower segments of reinforced concreate that is
assembled at site. Concrete have the benefit that it could be manufactured locally which
could be a benefit when competing for wind power contracts requiring local job creation.
 98

5.4.3 Rack and pinion concept

The concept presented by Korovkin (Korovkin, 2012) is also limited to the self-buoyant
gravity foundation like the Elisa technology. The concept is also inspired by the jacking
mechanisms of the jack-up rigs but uses the rack and pinion system instead of the pin
and hole system. The telescopic mechanism is placed inside the tower like the concept of
this thesis assignment. The mechanism of Korovkin’s concept need additional racks that
must be installed onto the wall of the lower tower. The telescopic tower concept of this
thesis assignment uses the load bearing capacity of the tower wall and will therefore
have a stronger and less material intensive design. Korovkin do not present any solution
for permanently mating the upper tower to the lower tower.

5.4.4 Other pin and hole concepts

The patents described in Chapter 2.3.3.1 (A) and Chapter 2.3.3.2 (B) have many
similarities to the telescopic mechanism described in this thesis assignment (C) as all are
inspired by the pin and hole jacking mechanism.

The similarities are that the mechanism is installed inside the lower tower and below the
upper tower. The vertical climb is performed by hydraulic cylinders and the pins engage
with holes close to the inner surface of the lower tower.

The main difference between the concepts is described below.

Pin and hole:

(A) Use several beams that extend radially and run along the full height of the lower
tower. For this concept there is no details on how the pins are engaged. The issue
with this concept when the wind turbine get big and heavy is that the beams will
need to be strong which make them too big and heavy. As the beams are
extending radially, they will also occupy a lot of space inside the lower tower,
this increase the diameter of the lower tower which increase cost and weight.
Securing the beams to the lower tower will also increase the stiffness of the
tower at the beams.
(B) Also use beams that run along the full height of the lower tower, but the beams
are oriented circumferential to the tower. The issues of this concept are the same
as for (A) but as the beams extend less in the radial direction the issue with
increased diameter of the lower tower is less prominent.
(C) By integrating the shoulders into the wall of the lower tower the load bearing
capacity of the lower tower is used and less material will be added to the wind
turbine tower. With shoulder in the tower wall the diameter difference between
upper and lower tower can be minimal. Also, there will be no additional
stiffening of the tower.
 99

Yoke:
(A) Use two circular platforms with 3 lugs/pins in each platform spread 120 degrees
around the circumference. As the mechanism get loaded the platform will deform
and the pin and hole will experience a radial force.
(B) Do not have a yoke, the upper part of the mechanism is attached to the tower and
the lower pin mechanism holds on to the beam that run along the lower tower.
This concept has 4 pin mechanisms spread 90 degrees around the circumference.
(C) Use a yoke based on beams and a ring. It has more support points towards the
rotor side of the tower to compensate for the eccentric COG of the wind turbine
assembly. The beams of the yoke have a small angle upwards towards the ring in
the middle, this allow the yoke to expand radially as it gets loaded, this keep the
contact surface of the pin and shoulder and help prevent some of the tower wall
deformation.

Extension piece:
(A) Have a lattice structure that connect the upper tower with the telescopic
mechanism.
(B) Extend the upper tower. This solution will be heavy and costly since it uses a lot
of material.
(C) Use the “Upper tower supports” described in Chapter 4.1.4.8.

Permanent connection between upper and lower tower

(A) Use a flanged connection like the one described for the Elisa technology in
Chapter 2.3.1. The load transfer in this joint will be eccentric to the tower shells
and the flanges will get a lot of bending moment and will probably not be robust
to fatigue (in the Elisa technology it is a different story since the concrete flanges
is high in the vertical direction and does not extend so much in the radial
direction)
(B) Use a connection that relies on geometrical fit between two rings. Even though
these rings are held together by hydraulically tensions pins (in the radial
direction) the cyclic loading transferred from the upper tower will probably give
fatigue challenges of the connection. Some friction between the rings will help
but it is not described in the patent that this is a friction connection.
(C) The friction connection has good strength and good fatigue resistance.

As both concept (A) and (B) got separate patents but use very similar concept for the
telescopic mechanism it could be that the differences of the telescopic mechanism
concept described in this thesis assignment have enough differences to be patentable.
However, the technical descriptions in the patents use patent language to make the patent
cover a more general technical solution than what is shown in attached drawings. The
patentability needs to be investigated more in further research.
 100

5.4.5 Other telescopic tower concepts

Other telescopic tower concepts are listed briefly in Chapter 2.3.3.3. Many of these
concepts have been covered in early brainstorming of this thesis assignment and been
disregarded for the 12 MW telescopic tower for different reasons.

To use water or air as medium to lift the upper tower have been disregarded as it makes
the lower tower a pressure container and that interior of tower get wet.

Hanging pulley systems or tendons inside the tower increase the diameter of the lower
tower. To lift the heavy weight of the upper tower the pulley system or tendons need to
be very strong and this makes the system expensive, bulky and heavy. It is also
considered difficult to remove the pulley system or tendons after telescopic erection.

Any telescopic mechanism installed on the outside of the tower have been disregarded
since it is exposed to the environment and need to have add-ons to the tower exterior.

5.5 Stakeholder analysis

To understand the business case for a ≥12 MW telescopic wind turbine a stakeholder
analysis is necessary. Whom will be interested in developing and use the technology?
Whom might be interested in the patent rights for this concept? Whom will benefit from
the technology and whom will see it as a threat?

The wind farm operator/developer will, as can be seen in Chapter 4.5.5 and Chapter
4.5.7, have potential for increased revenues and lowered cost with the telescopic tower
on its wind farm. If the wind farm owner/developer will be interested in developing a
telescopic tower probably depend on its size, since it will require economic muscles,
technical competence, many large projects and long horizon. The wind farm
owner/developer probably also need to cooperate with wind turbine manufacturers,
tower manufacturers and installation vessel owners to realize the telescopic tower
concept. One advantage for the wind farm owner/developer is that they might have an
advantage in bidding for new projects if they have control over a technology that can
bypass the bottleneck other competitors might face in the tight market for large
installation vessels.

Another obvious stakeholder is the manufacturers of the turbines (GE Renewable

Energy, MHI Vestas Offshore Wind, Senvion and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy
(BVG Associates, 2019, p. 33)). The telescopic wind turbine tower could allow for
bigger wind turbines (since the installation bottle neck is eliminated) and the wind
turbine manufacturer owning the rights to the technology could get an advantage over its
competitors. The manufacturers could also be interested in patent rights so that no
competitor could get ahead. The wind turbine manufacturers probably have the best
know-how of how to design the telescopic tower to work together with the turbine itself,
the turbine manufacturers often design the towers for a tower manufacturer to fabricate
(BVG Associates, 2019, p. 52). If one of the big wind turbine manufacturers develop the
 101

telescopic tower it will probably be the best way to get good market penetration since the
turbines can be used for different projects all over the world. If the wind turbine
manufacturer also owns the physical telescopic mechanism these can be rented out to
each project and each unit can be used many times and the cost addition for the
telescopic mechanism for each wind turbine will be lower.

The tower manufacturers can also be interested in the technology (CS Wind, Gestamp
Renewable Industries, GSG Towers, Haizea Wind Group, Titan Wind Energy and
Welcon (BVG Associates, 2019, p. 52)). For the same reason as the stakeholders above
it might be an advantage in the competition to have a technology the competitors do not
have. The tower manufacturers will be an important contributor to the design of a
telescopic tower, but it seems like the stakeholders mentioned above will have more to
gain on the telescopic tower technology rights. The business model of the tower
manufacturers seems more to be about capacity to handle large structures and good
craftmanship in manufacturing then technology development.

The manufacturers of jacking mechanisms (Bosch Rexroth, Royal IHC, NOV,

GustoMCS etc.) could also be interested in expanding the application of their jacking
products and know-how. Also, these stakeholders will be important contributors to the
technology development, but I believe it will be difficult for these actors to be the driver
of the telescopic tower development. Also, these actors will have double interest since
they also supply jacking systems for the 4th generation installation vessels. If the
telescopic tower will limit the need for new installation vessels this market will decrease,
and it is difficult to say which jacking systems is most profitable for the jacking system
manufacturers.

The owners of the 2nd and 3rd generation installation vessel fleet is an obvious
stakeholder for the telescopic tower. The technology re-vitalizes their fleet for the
offshore wind market and can potentially extend the lifetime of the installation vessels
otherwise being obsolete when the wind turbines getting bigger and bigger. The
investment in the telescopic tower might even be cheaper than investing in new 4th
generation installation vessels. Competing with the large 4th generation installation
vessels might also make it possible to take higher charter rates also for the smaller and
older installation vessels. Most ship owners only have a few installation vessels so it
might be difficult to get any economy of scale if these are the ones driving the
technology development of a telescopic tower. Also, many ship owners might already
have placed orders for new 4th generation vessels so the telescopic tower might be a
threat.

The designers, manufacturers and owners of new 4th generation installation vessels will
see the telescopic tower as a threat. If the 2nd and 3rd generation vessels can stay in
business with the help of the telescopic tower fewer new vessels will be ordered and the
ones manufactured will have more competition that put pressure on the charter rates.
 102

One thing that is positive also for the 4th generation vessels is that the telescopic tower
might increase their lifetime when the turbines grows beyond 15MW.

Competitors like Esteyco that also have a similar telescopic tower concept might see the
new telescopic tower as a threat. However, the Elisa technology have the benefit of not
using any offshore crane at all but the limitations of gravity foundation or floating
foundation. The future offshore market will be big, and the technologies target different
market segments so there will probably be room for both the Elisa technology and the
new telescopic tower developed in this thesis assignment.
International and/or governmental organizations like for example the European union
could have interest in the technology. The Histwin-project where sponsored by EU with
the ambition to get more green power. These organizations have interests in getting more
renewable energy to the market and the potential bottleneck of the installation vessel
market can be a threat to their ambitions and commitment.

I think that it will be best if the telescopic mechanism can be developed by one of the
large wind farm owner/developer companies, supported by funds from governmental
organizations like EU. To get a successful technology development and implementation
of the telescopic tower it is also dependent that wind turbine manufacturers, tower
manufacturers, jacking mechanism manufacturers and ship owners contribute with their
respective competence.

5.6 Summaries the uncertainties in the assessments and calculations

The study performed in this thesis assignment is made at a feasibility level and all
calculations and designs are very general.

For the technical design it was most important to verify the structural integrity of the
shoulders and tower wall as well as the friction connection. Both these items have been
calculated to an extent that verify the feasibility of the concept, but it is off course
needed to make more detailed calculations in the next stage of the development. The
telescopic mechanism is not calculated, the design is based on engineering judgment and
the stress levels calculated in the shoulder calculation. The telescopic mechanism has
many degrees of freedom when it comes to the design and more/stronger material can be
added where needed. It is not expected that any reinforcements and design changes will
have big impact on the telescopic tower design, weight or cost estimates.

For the economic feasibility analysis there will also be some degree of uncertainties. It
has been difficult to find good data sources and the data found have been combined from
different sources which could increase the uncertainty of the result. The economic
analysis is also generalized and simplified but the result show that there can be scenarios
where the telescopic tower is economical advantageous over the alternatives. Each wind
power project has its own characteristic and if the telescopic tower has economic
benefits need to be analyzed for each project in detail.
 103

6 CHAPTER: CONCLUSIONS

From Chapter 1.2 the questions to answer in this thesis assignment are:
1. Is there a technical solution for elevating the upper part of the tower to full height
after the tower is installed onto the foundation?
Answer: The telescopic tower concept developed in this thesis assignment is
feasible for elevating the upper tower of the 12 MW reference turbine and it is
likely that the solution can be upscaled to fit even larger wind turbines.

2. Is there a technical solution for assembly of the upper tower to the lower tower
permanently after telescopic erection?
Answer: The friction connection with long slotted holes has potential to be a
connection method for mating upper and lower tower permanently. The design
calculations show local buckling issues with the long fingers suggested by the
Histwin design tool. Compensating measures and improvement to cope with this
issue are suggested in the thesis assignment.

3. What are the benefits of a telescopic tower?

Answer: The telescopic tower brings the overall height and COG of the tower
down to a level where 2nd and 3rd generation installation vessels can be used for
installation of 12 MW wind turbines. These installation vessels are more available
and less expensive than the 4th generation installation vessels required for
conventional 12 MW offshore wind turbine installation. The use of existing
installation vessel fleet has the potential to remove or limit the bottle neck of few
installation vessels capable of installing ≥12 MW wind turbines with conventional
methods. Debottlenecking the wind energy industry in the 2020’s will give more
renewable energy faster to the market. The telescopic tower can be used for all
kinds of foundations both fixed and floating. It also has benefits for all type of
installation methods.

4. What are the challenges of a telescopic tower?

Answer: The main challenges is that the tower needs to be modified which can
increase cost. It is also needed more welds in the lower tower that can be a
disadvantage when it comes to fatigue. The friction connection need to be
designed to cope with the offshore environment.

5. Will a telescopic tower have economic benefits?

Answer: The economic analyses performed in this thesis assignment show that
there are scenarios where the telescopic tower is economically beneficial.
 104

6.1 Further research

Further research is needed on all areas of this thesis assignment since it is only at a
feasibility level of detail. Areas that is only briefly described in this thesis assignment
and that need to be investigated in more detail is the control system of the telescopic
mechanism, the sea fastening of the upper tower during transport and lifting and how to
seal off the friction connection from the environment.

In the Heistermans research it is highlighted need for further investigations of coatings

used in the friction connection that need to both provide sufficient friction and also give
corrosion protection (Heistermann, 2014, p. 131).

It is also important to investigate if the concept can be patented or if the concept conflict
with other existing patents.
 105

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https://ulstein.com/equipment/ulstein-windlifter
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08). 2018 Offshore Wind Technologies Market Report. Retrieved 01 14, 2020,
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d%20Technologies%20Market%20Report.pdf
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https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5247321.pdf
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 114

offshore.com/beheer/upload/1/content/Printed%20matters%20-
%20Equipment%20leaflet%20-%20Offshore%20installation%20vessel%20-
%20Aeolus%20-%20HR%20-%20Clean.pdf
Veljkovic, M., & Husson, W. (2009). Elforsk rapport: 09:11 High-strength wind turbine
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http://space.hgo.se/wpcvi/wp-
content/uploads/import/pdf/Kunskapsdatabas%20teknik/forskningsresultat/09_11
_rapport_screen%5B1%5D.pdf
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(2011). Wind turbine tower design, erection and maintenance. In J. D. Sørensen,
& J. N. Sørensen, Wind energy systems - Optimising design and construction for
safe and reliable operation. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Woodhead Publishing
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4e9a-95a2-70172513d84b/language-en/format-PDF/source-search
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 115

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 116

APPENDIX A Inventory of installation vessels

APPENDIX B Tower dimensions

APPENDIX C Gravity loads due to eccentric COG

APPENDIX D Wind loads at installation

APPENDIX E Design load cases for connection of tower section

APPENDIX F1 Calculation of friction connection

APPENDIX F2 Histwin Excel Tool Calculation of friction connection

APPENDIX G Calculation of hydraulic system

APPENDIX H Master Equipment List

APPENDIX I 3D animation of telescopic erection

APPENDIX J 2D animation of telescopic tower onshore assembly, transportation

and installation
 1
APPENDIX A. Inventory of installation vessels
Name Referen Type Year Lifting Crane Variabl Deck Load Max Accom Service DP Picture
ce for capacity max e load area carrying water modatio speed system
info on (t) height (t) (m2) capacity depth n (knots)
each over (t/m2) (m) (persons
line deck )
(m)
Apollo (DEME, Self- 2018 800 4500 2000 15 106 92 DP2
2020) propelled
Jack-up

Sea Challenger (DEME, Self- 2014 900 95 6000 3350 55 60 12 DP2

n.d.) propelled
Jack-up

Sea Installer (DEME, Self- 2012 900 95 6000 3350 15 55 60 12 DP2

n.d.) propelled
Jack-up

Innovation (DEME, Self- 2015 1500 8000 3400 65 100 DP2

n.d.) propelled
Jack-up

Orion (DEME, HLCV 2019 5000 30000 8000 131 DP3

n.d.)

Bold Tern (Fred. Self- 2013 800 102 m 9500 3200 5-10 60 80 12 DP2
Olsen propelled
Windcar Jack-up
rier,
2019)
 2
Brave Tern (Fred. Self- 2012 800 102 m 9500 3200 5-10 60 80 12 DP2
Olsen propelled
Windcar Jack-up
rier,
2019)

Blue Tern (Fred. Self- 2012 800 102 7000 3750 10 65 150 8 DP2
Olsen propelled
Windcar Jack-up
rier,
2019)

Balder (Heerem SSCV 1978 3000/40 116/98 8000 20 392 6,5 DP3
a Marine Modifie 00
Contract d 2002
ors, n.d.)

Thialf (Heere SSCV 1985 14200 95 12000 15 31,6 736 6 DP3

ma Tandem
Marine
Contract
ors, n.d.)

Sleipnir (Heerem SSCV 2019 Aux Aux 165 20000 12000 10-15 400 DP3
a Marine 2500
Contract Main
ors, n.d.) 2*10000

JB 117 (Jack-up Jack-up 2011 1000 98 2000 2500 45 64 DP2

barge,
2017)

JB 118 (Jack-up Jack-up 2013 1000 98 1650 1500 45 204 DP2

Barge,
2019)
 3
Taillevent (Jan De Self- 2011 1000 6000 3600 10 40 112 11,7 DP2
Nul, propelled
2019) Jack-up

Vole Au Vent (Jan De Self- 2013 1500 6500 3535 15 50 90 10 DP2

Nul, propelled
2019) Jack-up

Rambiz (Jan De HLCV 1995 3300

Nul, Tandem
2014)

Voltair (Jan De Self- 2022 3000 14000 7000 20 80 100 11,5 DP2
Nul, propelled
2019) Jack-up

Gulliver (Jan De HLCV 2018 2*2000 78,5 78 7 DP2

Nul,
n.d.)

Les Alizès (Jan De HCLV 2022 5000 9300 30 120 13 DP2

Nul,
2019)
Aeolus (Van Self- 2014 1600 12000 3800 45 99 11 DP2
Oord, propelled (upgrad
2018) Jack-up ed
2018)

MPI Adventure (MPI Self- 2011 1000 6000 3600 40 112 11,7 DP2
Offshore propelled
, 2019) Jack-up
 4
Tau Peng (MPI Self- 2011 Same as Same as Same as Same as Same as Same as Same as Same as
Offshore propelled MPI MPI MPI MPI MPI MPI MPI MPI
, 2019) Jack-up Adventu Adventu Adventu Adventu Adventu Adventu Adventu Adventu
re re re re re re re re
OOS (OOS SSCV 2020 2*2200 6037 3800 15 750 11 DP3
Serooskerke Internati
onal
B.V.,
2019)

OOS (OOS SSCV 2021 2*2200 6037 3800 15 750 11 DP3

Walcheren Internati
onal
B.V.,
2019)

OOS Gretha (OOS SSCV 2012 2*1800 3570 2400 618 8 DP3
Internati (transit)
onal
Group
B.V.,
2016)
CP-8001 (Penta Self- 2019 800 1750 120
Ocean propelled
Construc Jack-up
tion Co.
Ltd.,
2019)

Penta Ocean (Penta Self- 2023 1600 50

Construction Ocean propelled
Construc Jack-up
tion,
2019)

Saipem 7000 (Saipem SSCV 1987 2*7000 15000 9000 725 9,5 DP3
, 2018)
 5
Sea Jack (Seajack Self- 2012 800 92 2000 10 55 90 8,8 DP2
Zaratan s, 2019) propelled
Jack-up

Sea Jack (Spanop Self- 1300 42-115 1500- 2500 20 30 23

oulos propelled 2500
Group, Jack-up
n.d.)

Seajacks Scylla (Seajack Self- 2015 1500 105 4600 10 130 12 DP2
s, 2018) propelled
Jack-up

Shimizu (Shimiz Self- 2022 2500 158 3*12 65

u propelled MW
Corporat Jack-up
ion,
2019)

Pacific Osprey (Swire Self- 2012 1150 132 4300 15 60 111 13 DP2
Blue propelled
Ocean, Jack-up
2020)

Pacific Orca (Swire Self- 2012 1200 4300 15 60 111 13 DP2

Blue propelled
Ocean, Jack-up
2018)

MPI Enterprise (Ziton, Self- 800 102 4500 2850 15 45 24 7 DP2

2019) propelled
Jack-up
 1

APPENDIX B Tower dimensions

Segment Section Plate Tot Weight Outer Inner Thickness Summary
Height Height (t) Radius Radius (m) tower
(m) (m) (m) (m) sections
weight (t)
TOP UPPER 2,75 2,73 0,020
37 UPPER 3 111 8,57 2,78 2,76 0,021
36 UPPER 3 108 9,18 2,82 2,80 0,022
35 UPPER 3 105 9,81 2,85 2,83 0,024
34 UPPER 3 102 10,45 2,89 2,86 0,025
33 UPPER 3 99 11,10 2,92 2,89 0,026
32 UPPER 3 96 11,76 2,95 2,93 0,027
31 UPPER 3 93 12,44 2,99 2,96 0,029
30 UPPER 3 90 13,13 3,02 2,99 0,030
29 UPPER 3 87 13,83 3,05 3,02 0,031
28 UPPER 3 84 14,54 3,09 3,06 0,032 COG
27 UPPER 3 81 15,26 3,12 3,09 0,033
26 UPPER 3 78 16,00 3,16 3,12 0,035
25 UPPER 3 75 16,75 3,19 3,15 0,036
24 UPPER 3 72 17,51 3,22 3,19 0,037
23 UPPER 3 69 18,28 3,26 3,22 0,038
22 UPPER 3 66 25,62 3,29 3,25 0,039 224
21 LOWER 3 63 21,46 3,54 3,50 0,041
20 LOWER 3 60 22,10 3,54 3,50 0,042
19 LOWER 3 57 22,74 3,54 3,50 0,043
18 LOWER 3 54 23,38 3,54 3,50 0,044
17 LOWER 3 51 24,02 3,55 3,50 0,046
16 LOWER 3 48 24,67 3,55 3,50 0,047
15 LOWER 3 45 25,31 3,55 3,50 0,048
14 LOWER 3 42 25,95 3,55 3,50 0,049
13 LOWER 3 39 26,59 3,55 3,50 0,050
12 LOWER 3 36 27,23 3,55 3,50 0,052
11 LOWER 3 33 27,87 3,55 3,50 0,053 COG
10 LOWER 3 30 28,51 3,55 3,50 0,054
9 LOWER 3 27 29,16 3,56 3,50 0,055
8 LOWER 3 24 29,80 3,56 3,50 0,056
7 LOWER 3 21 30,44 3,56 3,50 0,058
6 LOWER 3 18 31,08 3,56 3,50 0,059
5 LOWER 3 15 31,72 3,56 3,50 0,060 452
4 BASE 3 12 34,06 3,74 3,68 0,061
3 BASE 3 9 35,31 3,81 3,74 0,063
2 BASE 3 6 36,78 3,89 3,83 0,064 COG
1 BASE 3 3 38,55 4,00 3,94 0,065 145
Total 821
 1

APPENDIX C Gravity loads due to eccentric COG

Haliade 12MW telescopic tower lower flange
Part Weight (t) Height (m) X-COG (m) Y-COG (m) X Moment (Nm)Y Moment (Nm)
Nacelle + Hub 713 10 3 53 2139 37789
Rotor 165 8,5 53 1402,5 8745
Upper Tower 224 48 0 24,0 0 5376
Summary 1102 3,21 47,11 3542 51910

Rot/Aft lever from origo 3,5

Tilt (rad) 0,07 0,03 0,00 0,03 0,07
Tilt (deg) -4 -2 0 2 4
X-COG -0,07 1,57 3,21 4,86 6,50
Weight 1102 1102 1102 1102 1102
Y equal weight (t) 1099 1101 1102 1101 1099
X equal weight (t) 77 38 0 38 77
Moment (Nm) -781265 16987295 34777530 52567765 70336325
Force from turn over moment-223219
(N) 4853513 9936437 15019361 20096093
Force from weight only (N) 10821640 10821640 10821640 10821640 10821640
Force Rot (N) 5299211 7837576 10379039 12920501 15458866
Force Back side (N) 5522429 2984064 442601 -2098861 -4637226
Rot equal weight (t) 540 798 1057 1316 1574
Back side equal weight (t) 562 304 45 -214 -472
Rot % of total 48,97 % 72,43 % 95,91 % 119,40 % 142,85 %
Back side % of total 51,03 % 27,57 % 4,09 % -19,40 % -42,85 %

Load share forward/aft side of WTG

as function of tilt
200,00 %

150,00 %

100,00 %

50,00 %

0,00 %
-4 -2 0 2 4

-50,00 %

-100,00 %

Rot % of total Back side % of total

 1

APPENDIX D Wind loads at installation

Parameter Value Unit Reference Page
Density of air 1,226 kg/m3 https://rules.dnvgl.com/docs/pdf/dnv/codes/docs/2010-10/rp-c205.pdf
s47
Drag coefficient tower 0,5 https://rules.dnvgl.com/docs/pdf/dnv/codes/docs/2010-10/rp-c205.pdf
s56
Drag coefficient blade 0,01 https://rules.dnvgl.com/docs/pdf/dnv/codes/docs/2010-10/rp-c205.pdf
s121
Drag coefficient hub 0,7 https://rules.dnvgl.com/docs/pdf/dnv/codes/docs/2010-10/rp-c205.pdf
s121
Mean wind speed 12 m/s

Upper Tower
Segment Plate Height(m)Tot Height(m) Diameter (m) Element Area (m2)
Wind Pressure (Pa)
Wind Force (N)Vertical COG of force
Moment
action (m)
on lower
Comment
flange of upper tower when tower is fully extended (Nm)
TOP 5,50
37 3 111 5,57 16,70 737 12313 46,5 572558
36 3 108 5,64 16,91 746 12614 43,5 548698
35 3 105 5,70 17,11 755 12918 40,5 523181
34 3 102 5,77 17,31 764 13226 37,5 495974
33 3 99 5,84 17,51 773 13538 34,5 467045
32 3 96 5,91 17,72 782 13853 31,5 436361
31 3 93 5,97 17,92 791 14172 28,5 403888
30 3 90 6,04 18,12 800 14494 25,5 369596
29 3 87 6,11 18,32 809 14820 22,5 333451
28 3 84 6,18 18,53 818 15150 19,5 295419
27 3 81 6,24 18,73 827 15483 16,5 255470
26 3 78 6,31 18,93 836 15820 13,5 213570
25 3 75 6,38 19,14 845 16161 10,5 169686
24 3 72 6,45 19,34 853 16505 7,5 123786
23 3 69 6,51 19,54 862 16853 4,5 75837
22 3 66 6,58 19,74 871 17204 1,5 25806
5310325
Blade 1
1 0 0 5,38 0
2 2,64302 2,64302 5,36300313 14,17 626 8868 53 469987 Estimated as circular cross section and not airfoil
3 2,73675 5,37977 5,12887189 14,04 620 8696 53 460875 Estimated as circular cross section and not airfoil
4 2,82293 8,2027 4,69180997 13,24 585 7742 53 410346 Estimated as circular cross section and not airfoil
5 2,9004 11,1031 4,16283754 12,07 533 6434 53 341007 Estimated as circular cross section and not airfoil
6 2,9679 14,071 3,58395002 10,64 9 100 53 5293
7 3,0243 17,0953 3,05710042 9,25 8 75 53 3999
8 3,0688 20,1641 2,66154099 8,17 7 59 53 3121
9 3,1006 23,2647 2,37276918 7,36 6 48 53 2532
10 3,119 26,3837 2,14436269 6,69 6 39 53 2093
11 3,1239 29,5076 1,95137605 6,10 5 33 53 1739
12 3,1152 32,6228 1,78626503 5,56 5 27 53 1449
13 3,0928 35,7156 1,64011224 5,07 4 23 53 1204
14 3,0574 38,773 1,50784387 4,61 4 19 53 994
15 3,0094 41,7824 1,38907642 4,18 4 15 53 818
16 2,9496 44,732 1,28325258 3,79 3 13 53 670
17 2,8791 47,6111 1,18949534 3,42 3 10 53 549
18 2,7988 50,4099 1,10679675 3,10 3 8 53 449
19 2,7102 53,1201 1,03412834 2,80 2 7 53 367
20 2,6143 55,7344 0,97025571 2,54 2 6 53 301
21 2,5126 58,247 0,91402029 2,30 2 5 53 247
22 2,4064 60,6534 0,86418838 2,08 2 4 53 202
23 2,2967 62,9501 0,81889551 1,88 2 3 53 165
24 2,1851 65,1352 0,77688043 1,70 1 3 53 135
25 2,0724 67,2076 0,73791484 1,53 1 2 53 109
26 1,9599 69,1675 0,70204264 1,38 1 2 53 89
27 1,8484 71,0159 0,66908348 1,24 1 1 53 72
28 1,7386 72,7545 0,63881629 1,11 1 1 53 58
29 1,6315 74,386 0,61116395 1,00 1 1 53 47
30 1,5273 75,9133 0,58581557 0,89 1 1 53 37
31 1,4269 77,3402 0,56187463 0,80 1 1 53 30
32 1,3303 78,6705 0,53801322 0,72 1 0 53 24
33 1,238 79,9085 0,51310587 0,64 1 0 53 19
34 1,15 81,0585 0,4866031 0,56 0 0 53 15
35 1,0667 82,1252 0,45870012 0,49 0 0 53 11
36 0,9878 83,113 0,42804251 0,42 0 0 53 8
37 0,9135 84,0265 0,39186841 0,36 0 0 53 6
38 0,8438 84,8703 0,34706892 0,29 0 0 53 4
39 0,7784 85,6487 0,2852476 0,22 0 0 53 2
40 0,7173 86,366 0,1446 0,10 0 0 53 1
1709073
Blade 2
1 0 0 5,38 0
2 2,64302 2,64302 5,36300313 14,17 626 8868 53 469987 Estimated as circular cross section and not airfoil
3 2,73675 5,37977 5,12887189 14,04 620 8696 53 460875 Estimated as circular cross section and not airfoil
4 2,82293 8,2027 4,69180997 13,24 585 7742 53 410346 Estimated as circular cross section and not airfoil
5 2,9004 11,1031 4,16283754 12,07 533 6434 53 341007 Estimated as circular cross section and not airfoil
6 2,9679 14,071 3,58395002 10,64 9 100 53 5293
7 3,0243 17,0953 3,05710042 9,25 8 75 53 3999
8 3,0688 20,1641 2,66154099 8,17 7 59 53 3121
9 3,1006 23,2647 2,37276918 7,36 6 48 53 2532
10 3,119 26,3837 2,14436269 6,69 6 39 53 2093
11 3,1239 29,5076 1,95137605 6,10 5 33 53 1739
12 3,1152 32,6228 1,78626503 5,56 5 27 53 1449
13 3,0928 35,7156 1,64011224 5,07 4 23 53 1204
14 3,0574 38,773 1,50784387 4,61 4 19 53 994
15 3,0094 41,7824 1,38907642 4,18 4 15 53 818
16 2,9496 44,732 1,28325258 3,79 3 13 53 670
17 2,8791 47,6111 1,18949534 3,42 3 10 53 549
18 2,7988 50,4099 1,10679675 3,10 3 8 53 449
19 2,7102 53,1201 1,03412834 2,80 2 7 53 367
20 2,6143 55,7344 0,97025571 2,54 2 6 53 301
21 2,5126 58,247 0,91402029 2,30 2 5 53 247
 31 1,4269 77,3402 0,56187463 0,80 1 1 53 30
32 1,3303 78,6705 0,53801322 0,72 1 0 53 24
33 1,238 79,9085 0,51310587 0,64 1 0 53 19
34 1,15 81,0585 0,4866031 0,56 0 0 53 15
35 1,0667 82,1252 0,45870012 0,49 0 0 53 11
36 0,9878 83,113 0,42804251 0,42 0 0 53 8
37 0,9135 84,0265 0,39186841 0,36 0 0 53 6 2
38 0,8438 84,8703 0,34706892 0,29 0 0 53 4
39 0,7784 85,6487 0,2852476 0,22 0 0 53 2
40 0,7173 86,366 0,1446 0,10 0 0 53 1
1709073
Blade 2
1 0 0 5,38 0
2 2,64302 2,64302 5,36300313 14,17 626 8868 53 469987 Estimated as circular cross section and not airfoil
3 2,73675 5,37977 5,12887189 14,04 620 8696 53 460875 Estimated as circular cross section and not airfoil
4 2,82293 8,2027 4,69180997 13,24 585 7742 53 410346 Estimated as circular cross section and not airfoil
5 2,9004 11,1031 4,16283754 12,07 533 6434 53 341007 Estimated as circular cross section and not airfoil
6 2,9679 14,071 3,58395002 10,64 9 100 53 5293
7 3,0243 17,0953 3,05710042 9,25 8 75 53 3999
8 3,0688 20,1641 2,66154099 8,17 7 59 53 3121
9 3,1006 23,2647 2,37276918 7,36 6 48 53 2532
10 3,119 26,3837 2,14436269 6,69 6 39 53 2093
11 3,1239 29,5076 1,95137605 6,10 5 33 53 1739
12 3,1152 32,6228 1,78626503 5,56 5 27 53 1449
13 3,0928 35,7156 1,64011224 5,07 4 23 53 1204
14 3,0574 38,773 1,50784387 4,61 4 19 53 994
15 3,0094 41,7824 1,38907642 4,18 4 15 53 818
16 2,9496 44,732 1,28325258 3,79 3 13 53 670
17 2,8791 47,6111 1,18949534 3,42 3 10 53 549
18 2,7988 50,4099 1,10679675 3,10 3 8 53 449
19 2,7102 53,1201 1,03412834 2,80 2 7 53 367
20 2,6143 55,7344 0,97025571 2,54 2 6 53 301
21 2,5126 58,247 0,91402029 2,30 2 5 53 247
22 2,4064 60,6534 0,86418838 2,08 2 4 53 202
23 2,2967 62,9501 0,81889551 1,88 2 3 53 165
24 2,1851 65,1352 0,77688043 1,70 1 3 53 135
25 2,0724 67,2076 0,73791484 1,53 1 2 53 109
26 1,9599 69,1675 0,70204264 1,38 1 2 53 89
27 1,8484 71,0159 0,66908348 1,24 1 1 53 72
28 1,7386 72,7545 0,63881629 1,11 1 1 53 58
29 1,6315 74,386 0,61116395 1,00 1 1 53 47
30 1,5273 75,9133 0,58581557 0,89 1 1 53 37
31 1,4269 77,3402 0,56187463 0,80 1 1 53 30
32 1,3303 78,6705 0,53801322 0,72 1 0 53 24
33 1,238 79,9085 0,51310587 0,64 1 0 53 19
34 1,15 81,0585 0,4866031 0,56 0 0 53 15
35 1,0667 82,1252 0,45870012 0,49 0 0 53 11
36 0,9878 83,113 0,42804251 0,42 0 0 53 8
37 0,9135 84,0265 0,39186841 0,36 0 0 53 6
38 0,8438 84,8703 0,34706892 0,29 0 0 53 4
39 0,7784 85,6487 0,2852476 0,22 0 0 53 2
40 0,7173 86,366 0,1446 0,10 0 0 53 1

Blade 3
1 0 0 5,38 0
2 2,64302 2,64302 5,36300313 14,17 626 8868 53 469987 Estimated as circular cross section and not airfoil
3 2,73675 5,37977 5,12887189 14,04 620 8696 53 460875 Estimated as circular cross section and not airfoil
4 2,82293 8,2027 4,69180997 13,24 585 7742 53 410346 Estimated as circular cross section and not airfoil
5 2,9004 11,1031 4,16283754 12,07 533 6434 53 341007 Estimated as circular cross section and not airfoil
6 2,9679 14,071 3,58395002 10,64 9 100 53 5293
7 3,0243 17,0953 3,05710042 9,25 8 75 53 3999
8 3,0688 20,1641 2,66154099 8,17 7 59 53 3121
9 3,1006 23,2647 2,37276918 7,36 6 48 53 2532
10 3,119 26,3837 2,14436269 6,69 6 39 53 2093
11 3,1239 29,5076 1,95137605 6,10 5 33 53 1739
12 3,1152 32,6228 1,78626503 5,56 5 27 53 1449
13 3,0928 35,7156 1,64011224 5,07 4 23 53 1204
14 3,0574 38,773 1,50784387 4,61 4 19 53 994
15 3,0094 41,7824 1,38907642 4,18 4 15 53 818
16 2,9496 44,732 1,28325258 3,79 3 13 53 670
17 2,8791 47,6111 1,18949534 3,42 3 10 53 549
18 2,7988 50,4099 1,10679675 3,10 3 8 53 449
19 2,7102 53,1201 1,03412834 2,80 2 7 53 367
20 2,6143 55,7344 0,97025571 2,54 2 6 53 301
21 2,5126 58,247 0,91402029 2,30 2 5 53 247
22 2,4064 60,6534 0,86418838 2,08 2 4 53 202
23 2,2967 62,9501 0,81889551 1,88 2 3 53 165
24 2,1851 65,1352 0,77688043 1,70 1 3 53 135
25 2,0724 67,2076 0,73791484 1,53 1 2 53 109
26 1,9599 69,1675 0,70204264 1,38 1 2 53 89
27 1,8484 71,0159 0,66908348 1,24 1 1 53 72
28 1,7386 72,7545 0,63881629 1,11 1 1 53 58
29 1,6315 74,386 0,61116395 1,00 1 1 53 47
30 1,5273 75,9133 0,58581557 0,89 1 1 53 37
31 1,4269 77,3402 0,56187463 0,80 1 1 53 30
32 1,3303 78,6705 0,53801322 0,72 1 0 53 24
33 1,238 79,9085 0,51310587 0,64 1 0 53 19
34 1,15 81,0585 0,4866031 0,56 0 0 53 15
35 1,0667 82,1252 0,45870012 0,49 0 0 53 11
36 0,9878 83,113 0,42804251 0,42 0 0 53 8
37 0,9135 84,0265 0,39186841 0,36 0 0 53 6
38 0,8438 84,8703 0,34706892 0,29 0 0 53 4
39 0,7784 85,6487 0,2852476 0,22 0 0 53 2
40 0,7173 86,366 0,1446 0,10 0 0 53 1

Hub
1 10 10 78,53981634 4853 381154 53 20201175
713015 37658115
Total equal tonnes 73 548
 1

APPENDIX E. Design Load Cases for Tower Connection

To get the loads and moments acting in the area of the tower connection the Ashes-software is
used. Ashes is an aero-servo-hydro-elastic simulation tool that can be used in a dynamic
simulation to find loads and responses in a wind turbine (Simis, n.d.).

The worst-case design case for the tower connection is not always obvious, and for a real project
all load cases defined in the design standard shall be investigate (Det Norske Veritas and Wind
Energy Department, Risø National Laboratory, 2009, p. 170). To limit the extent of the
simulation for this thesis assignment only some representative load cases from IEC61400-
1/DNVGL-ST-0473 are analyzed.

Table 7 Load cases analyzed for design of friction connection

Design DCL = Wind Partial Comment

situation Design condition safety
Load factor
Cases
Power DLC1.1
NTM Vout N (1,25) IEC Kaiman Model (NTM)
Production Turbulence intensity B
Power DLC1.3 ETM Vout N (1,35) IEC Kaiman Model (ETM)
Production Turbulence intensity B
Power DLC1.4 EDC Vout N (1,35)
Production
Power DLC1.5 EWS Vout N (1,35)
Production
Parked DLC 6.1 EWM V50 N (1,35)
(idle 1
rpm)
Parked DLC 6.3 EWM V1 N (1,35) Extreme yaw misalignment +/-20 deg
(idle 1
rpm)
DLC = Design Load Cases
NTM = Normal Turbulence Model
ETM = Extreme Turbulence Model
EDC = Extreme Directional Change
EWS = Extreme Wind Shear
EOG = Extreme Operating Gust

The Haliade-X 12 MW wind turbine is of wind class IB high wind and lower turbulence. Stop
wind is assumed to be 25 m/s, turbulence intensity is 16% (IEC, 2019, p. 29) and the extreme 50-
year gust is 70 m/s (IEC, 2019, p. 29)

The tower connection should also be analyzed for fatigue, but since the project do not have
environmental data for a specific site and since the friction connection can be sized so that the
fatigue is not dimensioning (Veljkovic M. , et al., 2015, pp. 76-77) it is not analyze in this thesis
assignment.
 2

Figure 80 Ashes software (Simis, 2019)

Using the Ashes software to get forces and moments in the tower segment of the connection it is
needed to do some simplification:

• The analysis is made for an onshore turbine since wave data for a specific site is not
available.
• Tower geometry is according to APPENDIX B Tower dimensions.
• Nacelle weight and COG data are according to Chapter 2.1.2.
• A DTU 10 MW blade available in the software is used for the analyses instead of the
Haliade X 12 MW blade. The DTU-blade is 82-meter-long and weigh 42 tonnes so it is a
bit shorter than the Haliade X 12 MW, but the software says that it theoretically shall be
able to produce 12 MW of power.
• The Haliade X 12 MW is a PMSG wind turbine (Vries, 2019). For the generator
configuration the PMSG mode in Ashes is set up for students at a NTNU-course to size
such a generator, this mode is not suited for the purpose of analyzing loads in the tower.
Instead the “Live”-mode which allows the torque to be set by the user (103000 Nm is
used for rated power of 12 MW) is used. To allow the rotor speed to be a set rpm a gear
box is used even if the Haliade X doesn’t have one. The blade pitch where controlled by a
PI-controller to keep rated rpm at setpoint which effectively feathered the blades as the
wind speed increased above the rated wind speed. Rated speed is set to 12 rpm during
operation. Idle rotor is analyzed as rotor speed of 1 rpm and no generator torque (blades
feathered to make rotor spin slowly)
• Structural damping is included into the analysis, The Haliade X 12 MW have active
damping at the top of the tower (Petche & Kellner, 2018) but this cannot be simulated in
the software.
• The simulation needs some time to adjust to parameter step changes and data is collected
at stable condition. Therefore, the first 30 seconds of the simulation are disregarded, the
simulation is run for a total of 90 seconds (since the default turbulence model is this
length).
• Sensors measuring forces and moments are placed at tower bottom (element 1), middle
(element 23) and top (element 37).
 3

The simulation is performed, data is processed and the worst-case load case from each simulation
is summarized in Figure 81 and Table 8 below.

Figure 81 Loads acting on the friction connection (RFCS HISTWIN+ project, 2015)

Table 8 Summary of Design Load Cases element 23 at the location of the connection between upper and lower tower.

Load Case Fx (Vx,Ed in Fy (ꓕVx,Ed Fz (NEd in Mt (MX,Ed Mr (MT,Ed Comment

figure in figure figure in figure in figure
above) above) above) above) above)
DLC1.1 1544 176 -10465 36889 -3708
NTM
DLC1.3 1637 164 -10722 38889 -6679
ETM
DLC1.4 906 569 -9984 52856 18296 Extreme torque 0-
ECD 28,8 deg
DLC1.5 707 -90 -10102 4147 -7410
EWSH
DLC1.5 1174 -11 -9994 51656 7346 Extreme moment
EWSV
DLC 6.1 1139 187 -9309 14444 -3584 70 m/s
V50
DLC 6.3 252 1623 -9819 76725 7205 56 m/s
V1 Yaw
+20deg
DLC 6.3 336 -1519 -9570 77003 -6205 56 m/s
V1 Yaw -
20deg

The natural frequencies of the tower are also checked in the Ashes Software.

1st natural frequency of the full height tower is 0,28 Hz

1st natural frequency of the retracted telescopic tower is 0,56 Hz
 4

Model information from Ashes 3.12

General
Name: Untitled
Item count: 1321
Sensor count: 7

FEM solver:
Time step: 0,040 s
Minimum natural period accurately simulated (rule-of-thumb): 0,800 s (1,250 Hz / 7,854 rad/s)
Timesteps per second: 25
Analysis mode: Nonlinear
Integration method for dynamic system: HHT-alpha
Alpha factor (numerical damping): -0.025
Beta factor: 0.262656
Gamma factor: 0.525
Convergence tolerance displacements: 1e-09
Convergence tolerance loads: 1e-09
Last iteration count: 0

Ramp-up:
Ramp-up duration: 4,000 s
# of ramp-up time steps: 100

Structural damping:
Damping mode: Mass proportional
Mass proportional coefficient: 0,04189
Stiffness proportional coefficient: 0

First damping ratio: 1,000 %

Period corresponding to first damping ratio: 3,000 s (0,333 Hz / 2,094 rad/s)
Damped period corresponding to first damping ratio: 3,000 s (0,333 Hz / 2,094 rad/s)
Log decrement per period corresponding to first damping ratio: 6 %
Decrement per period corresponding to first damping ratio: 106 %

FEM details:
Element count: 202
Support count: 1
Initial condition count: 182
Node count: 202 (slave nodes 4)

Load count: 781

Number of nodal loads per type:

Generator torque: 1
BEM (blade): 300
Material gravity: 404
 5

Point mass gravity: 2

Aero drag: 74

Masses:
Total element mass: 930 705 kg
Total nodal point mass: 706 780 kg
Total element and nodal point masses: 1 637 t

Total point inertia:

000
000
000

RNA
Rotor diameter: 175,568 m
Rotor solidity (at zero pitch): 0.0477442
Blades inertia: 1.40593e+08
Hub diameter: 175,568 m

Blade count: 3

Blade:
Length: 86,366 m
Mass: 41 722 kg
Inertia about hub: 4.72217e+07
Inertia about pitch axis: 0
Blade element count: 40 (aerodynamic elements)
FE count: 52 (excluding hub--root element)

Support structure (count: 1)

Support section 1
Name: Tubular tower
Mass: 805 538 kg
Height: 111,000 m
Base elevation: 0 m
Top elevation: 111,000 m
 1

APPENDIX F1. Calculation of Friction Connection

The Histwin-project have developed a design methodology for the friction connection. In the
Histwin documentation there is detailed descriptions and analysis of all parameters involved in
the friction connection. Requirements from structural standards, results from calculations and
FEM-analysis as well as results from testing have been used to verify the integrity of the friction
connection. These results have also been used to develop a sizing tool Histwin Excel Tool (RFCS
HISTWIN+ project, 2015) that can be used by a wind turbine tower designer to size the friction
connection. Since this thesis assignment is not about the friction connection itself but only use it
as part of the solution for the telescopic tower it is deemed enough to use this tool to get a typical
configuration/size of the friction connection for the 12 MW reference turbine and not go into all
the details of the friction connection.

The input to the Histwin Excel Tool is tower parameters like diameter, wall thickness and type of
steel as can be seen in Figure 82. For the 12 MW reference turbine these data is given in Chapter
2.1.2. Parameters for the bolted connection like friction coefficient and bolt diameter/grade can
also be selected. The design tool also needs the worst-case design load that the connection might
see during its life. This information is not easily available for the 12 MW reference turbine, to get
approximate loads the Ashes-software is used, see APPENDIX E Design load cases for
connection of tower section. These loads are summarized in Table 9.

For this thesis assignment a statement from the Histwin project is used to sort out the most
relevant load cases:“However, the load case that deliver the maximum shear force at the top of
the tower will usually design driving for the bending moment long the tower” (Veljkovic M. , et
al., 2015, p. 28).

The tower connection should be analyzed for fatigue, but since the project do not have
environmental data for a specific site and since the friction connection can be sized so that the
fatigue is not dimensioning (Veljkovic M. , et al., 2015, pp. 76-77) it is not analyze in this thesis
assignment.

The design loads in APPENDIX E Design load cases for connection of tower section are put into
the Histwin Excel Tool. The Histwin Excel Tools include partial safety factors of 1,35. For DLC
1.1 the input parameters need to be manipulated to account for the 1,25 partial safety factors
required for this design case.
 2

Table 9 Summary of Design Load Cases element 23

Load Case Fx Fy Fz Mtoto Mr Safety Comment

factor
DLC1.1 1430 163 -9690 34156 -3433 1,25 Loads adjusted
to correspond
NTM to SF 1,25 for
Histwin excel
tool
DLC1.3 1637 164 -10722 38889 -6679 1,35
ETM
DLC1.4 906 569 -9984 52856 18296 1,35 Extreme
ECD torque 0-
28,8 deg
DLC1.5 707 -90 -10102 4147 -7410 1,35
EWSH
DLC1.5 1174 -11 -9994 51656 7346 1,35 Extreme
EWSV moment
DLC 6.1 1139 187 -9309 14444 -3584 1,35 70 m/s
V50
DLC 6.3 252 1623 -9819 76725 7205 1,35 56 m/s
V1 Yaw
+20deg
DLC 6.3 336 -1519 -9570 77003 -6205 1,35 56 m/s
V1 Yaw -
20deg

The Histwin Excel Tool calculate the cross-section diameter for the friction connection in a
similar manner as in Chapter 3.5.4. To get a diameter of 7 meter at the friction connection a
segment height of 45000 mm is selected as input instead of the 65000 mm that is the true
elevation of the friction connection.

Figure 82 Default values of the first design check of the HISTWIN Excel Tool
 3

Table 10 Sizing of friction connection

Global buckling
Local buckling

Local buckling
Bolts per hole

Number bolts
Slotted holes

Plastic stress
Upper finger

analysis (%)
Free finger
Load Case

plastic

elastic
length

length
(mm)

(mm)

(%)

(%)

(%)
DLC1.1 NTM 72 5 360 1010 930 OK 94 127 74
DLC1.3 ETM 72 4 288 720 930 OK 103 140 82
DLC1.4 ECD 72 4 288 720 930 OK 105 143 45
DLC1.5 EWSH 40 3 120 510 930 OK 37 50 16
DLC1.5 EWSV 72 4 288 720 930 OK 90 120 58
DLC 6.1 V50 60 3 180 510 930 OK 61 82 37
DLC 6.3 V1 Yaw +20deg 72 4 288 720 930 140 125 172 23
DLC 6.3 V1 Yaw -20deg 72 4 288 720 930 133 117 165 26

Some of the design cases result in a local buckling of the fingers as seen in Table 10. There are
different ways of solving this that will be discussed below.

Also, optimizing the friction connection is to balance pro and con for material strength, material
thickness, friction coefficient, bolt material, bolt size, angle of spreading of the cone of
compression and allowed ratio of plastification in fingers. All these parameters will affect the
length of the free finger length and buckling resistance, the parameters will also give different
dimensions of the friction connection affecting cost and weight.

Bolt dimensions
Good practice for dimensioning a bolted connection is to use many smaller bolts over few larger
bolts (Mägi & Gerbert, 2001, p. 90). The TCB standard dimension is up to M36 (TCB - Tension
Control Bolts, n.d.) and beyond this dimension the TCB need to be manufactured as special item.
For the friction connection there is a requirement for spacing of bolts, and with many small bolts
the length of the fingers will be longer. This will increase total overlap of the inner and outer
tower at the friction connection that affect the total weight.

The tightening of the TCB’s are time consuming and the installation is time critical to keep
weather window requirements. The TCB torqueing should take only half the time of a
conventional bolt torqueing and the operation can be done by one person. Estimating about 40
seconds/bolt to install and torque a bolt of smaller dimension (Veljkovic & Husson, Elforsk
rapport: 09:11 High-strength wind turbine steel towers, 2009, p. 37) and up to 1 minute/bolt for
the larger dimensions using an electric driven shear wrench. The time study comparison is listed
in Table 11.
Table 11 Time study for smaller or larger TCB bolts

Bolt Slotted Bolts per Number Upper Lower Time/bolt Total

size holes hole bolts finger finger (s) time
(h)
M64 72 4 288 720 930 60 4,8
M36 100 9 900 1310 930 40 10
 4

M64 bolts give an advantage of both friction connection finger length and time for torqueing the
complete friction connection. M64 is selected for the friction connection sizing of this thesis
assignment.

Wall thickness at friction connection

Increased thickness of the fingers will help on the issue with local buckling. But increasing the
finger thickness will also increase the required free finger length that is negative for the local
buckling. Increased thickness and increased finger length give increased material use and
increased weight.

To get DLC 6.3 (that seems to be the worst case DLC for the friction connection) to pass the
local buckling analysis the thickness of the fingers needs to be increased from 40 mm to 70 mm
keeping all other parameters the same. A print out of the Histwin Excel Tool calculation with 70
mm finger thickness is presented in APPENDIX F2 Histwin Excel Tool Calculation of friction
connection.

The uppermost part of the lower tower will need to extend so that it covers the free finger length
on the lower part of the upper tower. This is to seal the friction connection from the environment.
The uppermost part of the lower tower will not be load bearing and can be made thin, for weight
estimation a thickness of 10 mm in this area is assumed.

Higher strength material

The friction connection is not bound by the material restrictions for a conventional flange and
therefore higher strength steels can potentially be used. To get DLC 6.3 (that seems to be the
worst case DLC for friction connection) to pass the local buckling the material of the fingers need
to be changed from conventional S355 mm to S500, keeping all other parameters the same as
default values from Figure 82.

Decreased requirement for radial gap between lower tower and upper tower
The calculation set-up account for a gap between the upper and inner tower at the friction
connection, this is done to make crane installation easier for of the high strength steel onshore
wind turbine tower that the Histwin-project have developed. With relatively thick fingers for the
>12 MW tower the Histwin Excel Tool want a long lower finger to get the finger to close the
radial gap and get the upper fingers to contact when the TCBs is torqued. For the telescopic
tower the installation gap requirement is not present (some gap will however be needed to
account for tolerances in tower dimension) since the upper tower is inside the lower tower and
the mating is performed with the telescopic mechanism. The friction connection might be
manufactured just a little bit coned so that the upper tower can be pushed against the lower tower
when the surfaces of the friction connection mate. With less gap for the fingers to close the lower
fingers can be made much shorter and the local buckling will be less critical. If necessary, also
the top of the lower tower could have a few slotted holes and take some of the deformation
necessary for the fingers of the friction connection to mate with the friction surface of the lower
tower. One additional modification can be to make only some of the slotted holes with long free
length to improve buckling resistance, see Figure 83.
 5

Figure 83 Friction connection slotted hole with different length and slots also in lower tower wall to create flexibility for assembly
tolerances but also give strength for buckling.

Summary
Since it is difficult to change the Histwin design tool to account for less radial installation
tolerances and other suggested modification to improve buckling resistance of the fingers the
friction connection is optimized only by increasing thickness of the free length fingers to
withstand local buckling at DLC 6.3.
A more detailed analysis of the potential of less installation tolerances need to be investigated
further. But it is assumed that the friction connection can be optimized so that it can pass the
design calculation with the default input values of Figure 82.

Based on the above assumptions and optimization the friction connection is estimated to be as
described in Table 12.

Table 12 Size of the friction connection

Bolt Slotted Bolts per Number Upper Lower

size holes hole bolts finger finger
M64 72 6 432 1230 1050

The weight of this friction connection will be about 10-15 tonnes which is in the same range as a
conventional flanged connection would be.
 1

APPENDIX F2 Histwin Excel Tool Calculation of friction connection

2
3
4
5
6
7
8
 1

APPENDIX G Calculation of Hydraulic System.

To lift the upper tower with the telescopic mechanism hydraulic power is needed. For each stroke
during the climb of the telescopic mechanism the hydraulic cylinders need to be filled with high
pressure oil.

The RRX0048 series of hydraulic cylinders from Enerpac have high lifting power and long stroke
length as seen in Table 13 and they are therefore a good fit for the application. For the 12 MW
reference turbine the smallest cylinder in the range RR20048 is selected for the 12 MW reference
turbine.

Table 13 Enerpac RR-Series, Double-Acting Cylinders with long stroke length (Enerpac)

RR20048 RR30048 RR40048 RR50048

Capacity 221 354 475 565
advance (T)
Capacity 100 188 254 314
retract (T)
Stroke length 1219 1219 1219 1219
(mm)
Extended 2746 2771 2824 2863
length (mm)
Collapsed 1527 1552 1605 1644
length (mm)
Cylinder 247 311 358 397
outside
diameter (mm)
Plunger 133,4 165,1 190,5 203,2
diameter (mm)
Cylinder 285 457,3 613,1 729,7
effective area
advance
(cm2)
Cylinder 145,3 243,2 328,1 405,4
effective area
retract
(cm2)
Max hydraulic 700 700 700 700
pressure (bar)
Oil capacity 34,741 55,745 74,737 88,951
advance/push
(dm3)
Oil capacity 17,712 29,646 39,996 49,418
retract/pull
(dm3)
Weight 483 780 980 1224
 2

Each cylinder requires 34,741 liters of hydraulic oil to complete one push stroke, there is 12
cylinders in the telescopic mechanism so 416,9 liters of hydraulic oil is needed to complete one
push stroke. The push stroke shall lift the complete upper tower assembly and to reach full load
capacity the pressure difference between inlet and outlet of the cylinder needs to be 700 bar.

The return stroke only requires 17,712 liters per cylinder adding up to 212,5 liters for all 12
cylinders. Since this stroke only lift the lower part of the telescopic mechanism, weighing about 6
tonnes, the pressure requirement will be less than 700 bar.

To complete one full stroke-cycle each cylinder needs 52,453 liters of hydraulic oil, times 12
cylinders this add up to 629 liters. The telescopic tower erection might be time critical to fit work
force requirements (avoid crew change) and/or weather window. With a 50 m high lower tower
and a telescopic mechanism stroke of 1,2 meter there will be 41 strokes to complete the climb.
Higher flow volume will increase HPU and hose sizes but if one stroke cycle takes about 5
minutes the climb will take about 4 hours to complete (including 1 minute for pin operation at
each stroke). To keep below 4 hours the hydraulic oil flow rate needs to be above 100 liter/min at
the hydraulic cylinders.

A Hydraulic Power Unit (HPU) required for the job will be relatively large and it is preferred that
this is rental equipment that can be placed on the wind turbine external platform to make it easy
to install/remove with the platform crane. This means that the distance between the power source
and the cylinders will be long when the telescopic mechanism is at its highest elevation. Higher
pressures require more advanced, robust and expensive equipment and higher flow rate will
increase size of equipment and increase losses/heating in the system, therefore these parameters
need to be balanced to get an optimal design of the system and to fit available standard
components.

Since the high pressure is only needed at the cylinder a miniBooster is placed close to the
cylinder on the hydraulic supply line for the push stroke. A miniBooster is an oscillating pressure
intensifier that can raise a low-pressure hydraulic flow to a higher pressure (miniBOOSTER
Hydraulics A/S, n.d.). By using this device, the HPU, valves, fittings, hoses and other equipment
in the hydraulic circuit can be designed for lower pressures which make them simpler and less
expensive.

It is expected that one miniBooster can supply pressure to two cylinders so the flow specification
for each miniBooster need to be above 18 l/min @ 700 bar outlet pressure. The HC6D described
in Figure 84 is the best fit model.
 3

Figure 84 miniBooster HC6D (miniBooster, n.d.)

To be able to easily find hose pressure drop later (see Figure 86) the maximum total flow from
the HPU should not exceed 378 liter/min, this corresponds 63 liter/min inlet flow for each
miniBooster. At 63 liter/min inlet flow and 18 liter/min outlet flow the intensification factor is
approximated to about 4,7. This means that the inlet pressure needs to be 148 bar to get the 700-
bar outlet pressure.

When the telescopic mechanism is at its highest elevation it is about 65 meters higher than the
HPU on the external platform. The pressure hose needs to be about 80 meters long to allow for
routing between the HPU and the cylinders. High flow rate through this hose will give a pressure
drop and the sizing need to be carefully evaluated.
 4

The nomogram in Figure 85 can be used for a first screening of hose diameter. Since the one
used is in Imperial Units a conversion table is needed.

1 l/min = 0,2642 gpm

1 m/s = 3,2808 fps
10 foot = 3,048 m
1 bar = 14,5 psi

Figure 85 Nomogram for hydraulic hose sizing (Parker, p. 3)

The nomogram indicates that the pressure hose needs to be at least 1-1/2” and the return hose
probably need to be above 2”.
 5

The Hose Flow Capacities Pressure Drop Chart in Figure 86 show that the 1-1/2” hose have a
pressure drop of 4,7 psi/10 foot translated to 0,324 bar/3,048 meter or 8,5 bar for the whole 80-
meter hose.

Figure 86 Hose Flow Capacities Pressure Drop (Parker, p. 4)

When the telescopic mechanism is at its highest elevation it is about 65 meters higher than the
HPU on the external platform. With an approximate oil density of 0,85 kg/liter (Parker, p. 4), the
extra pressure required at the HPU due to static head is 5,5 bar. Altogether the HPU need to
provide 162 bars at 378 liters/min to provide enough hydraulic power to the cylinders.

Power = P * Q / 600 Equation 2 (Øverby, 1990, p. 14)

 6

Power = 162 * 378 / 600 = 102 kW hydraulic power

To account for HPU efficiency and system losses (hose pressure loss is already included in the
sizing calculation) an HPU with higher rating is selected. At HPU pressure around 200 bar
standard components of 3000 psi can be selected for the system except for the miniBooster and
hydraulic cylinders.

In Figure 87 a typical diesel hydraulic power unit is showed as reference.

Figure 87 HPU for the telescopic mechanism (ACE Winches, n.d.)

Size and weight of the HPU might be critical for the offshore wind turbine crane and external
platform. If the selected HPU is deemed to large/heavy the alternative is to accept a slower
telescopic erection that require less hydraulic power or to use two smaller HPUs in parallel.
Electrical HPUs is also an option if power is available from net/emergency generator/supply
vessel.

To size the return hose there are two scenarios to investigate, evacuation of cylinder chamber for
pull and evacuation of cylinder chamber for push.

Filling a push stroke of the cylinders, equals 416,4 liters at 700 bar pressure, will with a fill rate
of 378 liters/min take 3 min and 51 seconds. During this stroke the 212,5-liter cylinder
compartment for the pull stroke need to be evacuated to the return line at a rate of 55 liter/min
(~15 gpm). It is important that the pressure in the return line are close to atmospheric since any
overpressure will steal lifting capacity from the cylinder. A 2” return hose gives negligible
pressure drop. When the telescopic mechanism is at its lowest position the elevation difference
 7

between the HPU and the cylinders is only 15 meters. Static pressure difference is then 1,275 bar
and the outlet of the cylinder experience atmospheric pressure during chamber evacuation.
Filling a 212.5 liter pull stroke of the cylinders with a fill rate of 378 liters/min at 194 bar take 34
seconds. If the 416,4 liters of the push stroke chamber shall be evacuated at this time the flow
rate need to be 735 liter/min (194 gpm). This rate will create to high velocities in the return line
where the velocities is not recommended to be more than 3 m/s (Øverby, 1990, p. 116). The push
stroke then needs to be slower, if 1 minute and 6 seconds is used for this stroke the flow rate will
be 378 liter/min and the flow will be within required velocities. This will create a pressure drop
of 1,3 psi/10 foot which translates to 0.0896318 bar/3,048 meter or 4 bar for the whole 80 m
hose. The lower platform of the telescopic mechanism weighs about 6 tonnes so the available
pressure for overcoming this pressure drop in the return line can be calculated.

F = P * 10 * A Equation 3 (Øverby, 1990, p. 10)

F = (148-4) * 10 * 145,3 = 209 kN available for lift

Prest = F / (10*A) = (209000-60000) / (10*145,3) = 102,5 bar available for overcoming pressure
drop in return line.

F = Force in N
P = Oil pressure in bar
A = Area in cm2
Prest = Pressure available in pull stroke chamber for evacuating the push stroke chamber.

To get atmospheric pressure and not vacuum at the cylinder outlet when the telescopic
mechanism is at its highest elevation the return hose needs to be fitted with a control valve
regulating the pressure drop and flow.

The on-skid hydraulic oil tank is 750 liters, and with 416,4 liters only in the cylinders during a
full stroke it is limited volume requirement for the other parts of the system. Especially the hoses
need to be selected with care. 80 meters of 1-1/2“pressure hose contain 93,3 liter of hydraulic oil
and 80 meters of 2” return hose contain 162 liter of liter of hydraulic oil. When the system is full
it contains 673 liters of hydraulic oil and it will be 77 liters in the tank.

A typical 1-1/2” pressure hose will weigh 3 kg/m (TESS, n.d.) so an 80-meter hose weigh a 240
kg empty and 320 kg full of oil. The free length of the hose during telescopic erection is about 50
meters so the hose needs to be able to take about 200kg of suspended weight in addition to the
internal pressure, so it is important to select a robust hose.

A typical 2” return hose will weigh 4,5 kg/m (TESS, n.d.) so an 80-meter hose weigh 360 kg
empty and 500 kg full of oil. The free length of the hose during telescopic erection is about 50
meters so the hose needs to be able to take about 350 kg of suspended weight in addition to the
internal pressure, so it is important to select a robust hose.
 8

Figure 88 Hydraulic hose (TESS, n.d.)

For the telescopic mechanism climb down after upper tower is permanently attached to the lower
tower the hydraulic cylinders only need to take the weight of the telescopic mechanism. This can
be done at lower pressure and the miniBooster can be bypassed. This operation should therefore
be possible to do in half the time (2 hours) of the upwards climb.

The losses in the hydraulic system will be converted to heat that warm up the hydraulic oil. The
oil shall not be too warm to keep oil properties within specification and not damage seals and
other parts of the hydraulic equipment (Øverby, 1990, p. 27). The heat needs to be removed from
the oil and a cooler is necessary. Normal procedure is to have a water-cooled heat exchanger on
the HPU skid connected to an external water source. This source of water cooling is probably not
present at the wind turbine during telescopic erection, so another cooling medium is necessary.
An air-cooled heat exchanger can be used instead, with a fan driven by a hydraulic motor that is
connected to the same HPU as the telescopic mechanism.

The graph in Figure 89 can be used to find approximate temperature rise in the hydraulic oil.
 9

Figure 89 Temperature rise (The Lee Company, 2019)

Estimated loss of 30% ~ 30 kW, from Equation 2 this is equal to a pressure drop of 650 psi
through the system. Using the temperature rise chart in Figure 89 with a specific heat of 0,51 and
a specific gravity of 0,85 (Parker, p. 4) result in a temperature increase of about 5 ºC throughout
the system. It is assumed that the temperature shall be held below about 70 ºC.

Expecting 20 ºC ambient temperature and an oil temperature of 65 ºC will mean a temperature

difference of about 45 K.
 10

The input data is put into a cooler sizing tool showed in Figure 90 (CCS Oil coolers, n.d.)

Figure 90 Capacity calculation for oil cooler (CCS Oil coolers, n.d.)

A CCS oil cooler model H50 will do the job for this application. Dimensions and specification
are found in Figure 91, Figure 92 and Figure 93. The hydraulic motor will use 13,5 liter of oil
which is 3,5% of the total flow. The unit will be W: 35 kg, L*W*H=0,6*0,7*0,4. Since the
maximum working pressure is 26 bar the cooler is placed on the return line of the hydraulic
system.
 11

Figure 91 Data sheet for H50 oil cooler (CCS Oil coolers, n.d.)
 12

Figure 92 Oil cooler specifications (CCS Oil coolers, 2018)

 13

Figure 93 Oil cooler drawing (CCS Oil coolers, 2018)

The hydraulic system will also need a control system with instrument, sensors and valves
controlling all the hydraulic operations, a for example distributing load between cylinders to keep
stroke equal. It will probably also be necessary with accumulators to absorb shock loads and a
system. Accumulators might also be necessary to provide emergency pressure so that the
telescopic mechanism can be set into a safe position. Pressure safety valves will also be necessary
to protect equipment from over pressure. All these parts of the hydraulic system are important for
the function but they will not be described or sized in detail in this thesis assignment.
 1

APPENDIX H Master Equipment List

To calculate the cost of the telescopic mechanism each component is estimated/calculated based on different parameters like volume,
weight, length, number etc. An uncertainty factor is included to account for associated costs and uncertainties of each component. A
cost per unit factor is included to give a total cost for each component.

The components are divided into categories. Permanently installed equipment (P) have the cost allocated each wind turbine unit.
Temporary installed equipment (T) is capital parts that will be reused for many wind turbines and the cost is therefore divided between
many wind turbine units. Rented equipment (R) is payed for by day rate, it is assumed 7 days for each telescopic wind turbine erection
including assembly and disassembly of the telescopic mechanism capital parts.

To not reveal sensitive supplier price information in the report the equipment price is not disclosed for each component in the MEL but
aggregated into one equipment cost for the whole telescopic mechanism.

The Histwin-project assume that the friction connection will save about 10-15% of the cost compared to a conventional flanged
connection (Heistermann, 2014, p. 1), This thesis report do not look into the friction connection as a cost saving measure but use it due
to its geometrical characteristics that is beneficial for the telescopic function. Since the friction connection is not consider resulting in a
net increase of the tower cost it is not included in the MEL since the purpose of MEL is to see the additional cost of a telescopic tower
compared to a conventional tower. Not taking credit for any friction connection cost savings is considered conservative.

For components adapted to the telescopic tower, such as elevator, ladders, lighting, cable ladders, access platforms that will be
installed in any tower it is expected that the additional cost/weight compared to a conventional tower design is minor and these items
are therefore disregarded in the MEL.
 2

Table 14 Master Equipment List for Telescopic Mechanism (argumentation and references for cost and weight can be found below the table.

Below the argumentation and the referenced sources for the information in the MEL is given for each component.
 3

1. For the shoulder material it is estimated that the shoulder look like Figure 46 with height 150 mm, length 700 mm and an
average wall thickness of 50 mm. The material is assumed to be S355 with a density of 8 t/m3. The material cost is estimated
based on information that a 10MW wind turbine tower weighing 600 tonnes (and 90% of the weight being steel plates) cost 600
k£ (BVG Associates, 2019, p. 52). This result in a cost of 1300 €/t of steel. This estimate is judged to be accurate and
uncertainty factor is set to 110%.
2. The steel plates used to manufacture the tower need to be cut to fit the shoulders. The cut-out steel is considered to have a scrap
metal value of about 200 €/t of steel (Argus, 2020). The cost and weight are calculated in the same way as the shoulder
described above but the cost is negative. The estimate is judged to be accurate and uncertainty factor is set to 110%.
3. The shoulders need to be welded to the tower. It is expected that this can be automated in a similar way as the rest of the tower
welds. Weld cost is estimated based on weld length. The length is calculated based on shoulder dimensions from 1 above. It is
not easy to find reliable data for wind turbine tower welding in the literature. The best available estimate comes from weld
equipment manufacturer ESAB that have a case study where they estimate that their new equipment can decrease production
cost with 21% corresponding to 2155$/wind turbine (ESAB, n.d.). It is not detailed what specific wind turbines the case study
is based on but it is assumed that it is the London Array wind farm that is the case as ESAB won a contract for this project in
2012 (ESAB, 2012). The London Array uses Siemens 3,6 MW wind turbines on conical steel tower (London Array, n.d.) with
a height of 90 m and tower weight of 210 tonnes (Wind-turbine-models.com, n.d.). All the above add up to total welding cost
of 9315 € for one 3,6 MW wind turbine tower. Assuming the amount of welding increase linear with weight the 12 MW wind
turbine tower weighing 821 tonnes would have a welding cost of 36400 €. Assuming tower can height of 3 m and two
longitudinal welds for each can the total length of weld for the 12 MW tower equals 1000 m of weld, this mean each meter of
weld cost in average 36,4 €/m. The estimate is judged to be accurate and uncertainty factor of 110%.
4. The shoulders will need machining to get the correct shape. The cost is difficult to estimate and a lump sum of 10000 € is
included with an uncertainty factor of 200%.
5. The rail for rotational support is estimated to be 50*50*50000 mm and run along the inner wall of the lower tower. This
parameter is calculated in the same way as the shoulder described above. Associated manufacturing and installation cost are
accounted for in the uncertainty factor of 200%.
6. The pin is subject to high stress and it is assumed that it is made in high strength steel. It assumed that the material is twice as
expensive per tonne than S355. The cost and weight are calculated in the same way as the shoulder described above.
Associated manufacturing and installation cost are accounted for in the uncertainty factor of 200%.
7. The cage is subject to high stress and it is assumed that it is made in high strength steel. It is assumed that the material is twice
as expensive per tonne than S355. The cost and weight are calculated in the same way as for the shoulders described above.
Associated manufacturing and installation cost are accounted for in the uncertainty factor of 200%.
8. The yoke arm is made from standard beams in construction steel, the cost is set equal to the s355. The weight is calculated
based on beam length and the cost is calculated based on the weight. Associated manufacturing and installation cost are
accounted for in the uncertainty factor of 200%.
 4

9. The yoke ring is made from construction steel, the cost is set equal to the s355. The weight is calculated based volume and the
cost is calculated based on the weight. Associated manufacturing and installation cost are accounted for in the uncertainty
factor of 200%.
10. The spreader bar is made from construction steel, the cost is set equal to the s355. The weight is calculated based volume and
the cost is calculated based on the weight. Associated manufacturing and installation cost are accounted for in the uncertainty
factor of 200%.
11. The support for the upper tower is made from construction steel, the cost is set equal to the s355. The weight is calculated
based volume and the cost is calculated based on the weight. Associated manufacturing and installation cost are accounted for
in the uncertainty factor of 200%.
12. The hydraulic cylinder is standard equipment and the cost are collected directly from a supplier. The weight is gathered from an
online data sheet (Enerpac, n.d.). Associated manufacturing and installation cost are accounted for in the uncertainty factor of
300%.
13. The linear actuator is standard equipment and the cost and weight are collected from an online data sheet (Ato, n.d.).
Associated manufacturing and installation cost are accounted for in the uncertainty factor of 300%.
14. The miniBooster is standard equipment and the cost are collected directly from a supplier. The weight is gathered from an
online data sheet (miniBooster, n.d.). Associated manufacturing and installation cost are accounted for in the uncertainty factor
of 300%.
15. The HPU will be rented. It has been difficult to get a budget price of a 150-kW offshore HPU. The rate used in the MEL is
derived from Rental Rate Blue Book for Construction Equipment (USDA, 2009) and a 150 kW generator (considered
representative also for a HPU). The weight is gathered from an online data sheet (ACE Winches, n.d.). The uncertainty factor
of 300% to account for offshore specification.
16. The cooler is standard equipment and the cost are collected directly from a supplier. The weight is gathered from an online data
sheet (CCS Oil coolers, 2018). Associated manufacturing and installation cost are accounted for in the uncertainty factor of
300%.
17. The hose reel will be rented, it is assumed that it will have similar day rate and uncertainty as the HPU.
18. The hydraulic pressure hose is estimated based on length. The cost and weight are found in price lists available online (TESS,
n.d.). The estimate is judged to be accurate with an uncertainty factor of 110%.
19. The hydraulic return hose is estimated based on length. (TESS, n.d.) The cost and weight are found in price lists available
online (TESS, n.d.). The estimate is judged to be accurate with an uncertainty factor of 110%.
20. The control system has not been possible to get price information for since it is not designed in detail. For the purpose of
estimating the cost of the complete telescopic mechanism a conservative lump sum is included.
21. The CTV charter rates have also been difficult to collect. The work boat day rates for US Gulf Offshore 2017 is used as an
indication (WorkBoat, 2017). The uncertainty is set to 150% since the price differ with supply and demand in specific areas.
22. For the crew it is assumed that a team of 4 persons work 12 hours/day at a rate of 100€/h per person.
 1

APPENDIX I 3D animation of telescopic erection

See separate video file

References to 3D models made by others used in animation

Wind turbine rotor: Sketchup 3D Warehouse – Wind turbine prop – by Tom H - 2014.03.20
Crew transfer vessel: Sketchup 3D Warehouse – 25m Landing Barge – by Savlich - 2017.02.16
Construction workers: Sketchup 3D Warehouse – 3D Construction workers – by Alex S. -
2014.06.18
Platform crane: Sketchup 3D Warehouse – Jib Crane ABACAP – by William Rich - 2019.05.07
 1

APPENDIX J 2D animation of telescopic tower onshore assembly, transportation and

installation
See separate video file

References to 2D models used in animation

Taillevent (Jan De Nul, 2019)
Liebherr (Liebherr, 2015)