Porto Alegre (BRA) – CTE WIND Brasil, part of CTE Wind International, has been active in the Brazilian market since 2005. After 2.5 GW installed wind turbine power or over 1000 designed, value-engineered or peer-reviewed foundations the next years highlight will be the consolidation of the patented Soft-Spot® solution in the Brazilian market. The result of the astonishing solution is the significant optimization of the bill of quantities compared to a standard gravity foundation: Savings in concrete, decrease of the foundation diameter (less earthwork) and total weight reduction of reinforcement bars.

The Soft-spot® is implemented in various countries around the world. Over 50 wind farms around the globe, 750 wind turbines are using this resource saving solution. Argentina, Chile, France, Lithuania, Indonesia, Mexico, Netherland, Russia, Serbia, Sweden Thailand and Brazil. With two new projects, one under development in the state of Bahia with 52 foundations scheduled for construction in early 2021, and an other already finished wind farm with 37 Vestas wind turbines V150 4.2MW in Rio Grande do Norte, things are on his best way to accomplish CTE Winds goals to be responsive, efficient and reliable worldwide.

To learn more about the patented Soft-Spot® solution please contact our Brazilian sales team in Porto Alegre or go and visite our Solutions section.

If you want to learn more about CTE Wind Brasil you can read more articles about projects and news in OUR-PROJECTS & OUR-NEWS – sections. For more Information about OUR-SERVICES please CONTACT US.

Experts in Foundation Design

From 1 to 12 MW wind turbines

According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance in 2019 developers worldwide have globally
commissioned a little over 45GW of onshore wind turbines. CTE Wind designed, valueengineered
or peer-reviewed foundations close to 1,500 WTG-foundations around the globe,
which represents around 5 GW of the installed onshore wind energy in 2019. A good result
for the 30 engineers working together worldwide. CTE Wind is an international engineering
consulting firm, headquartered in France, and specialized in the analysis and design of
onshore wind turbine foundations. Its engineering services lead to inventive foundation
solutions for wind turbines. In Rotterdam, they have designed the foundation for GE’s giant
12 MW Haliade X. But they are also with familiar with smaller 1 MW machines carried by
wooden towers. «Thanks to our experienced civil, structural and geotechnical senior
engineers the design of those wind turbine foundations worldwide are only a little challenge
to us», said Alexander MARTIN, CEO of CTE Wind International, «regardless if it is for new
turbine models from the top manufacturers or less common WTG-models from smaller or
local manufacturers», he added.

Biggest wind park in France, Poland and Spain

The sum of all experiences made since 2003 is the reason why CTE Wind’s engineering
team with offices in Brazil, Poland, Portugal, Spain, USA and Asia are often the first
choice for OEMS, wind park developers and EPC/BoP contractors. «That is how we
achieved to do over 17,500 wind turbines in 67 countries and without any failures», continues
MARTIN. One of CTE Winds main goals is to deliver foundation designs that optimizes the
use of resources and help to save concrete and reinforcement steel. Such a solution is the
patented SOFT-SPOT®, a gravity foundation with a soft layer under the anchor cage. Each
project receives an adapted design solution to the specific soil conditions. In Finland CTE
Wind designed a rock anchor solution when its engineers also designed a near-shore
foundation in Asias Mekong-Delta. «The trust of our customers leads us not only to
design special and new solutions but also the foundations for the biggest wind parks in
France, Spain and Poland. We are thrilled when we can play an important role in a wind farm
project. This shows the confidence of our customers in our designs and is also an
encouragement for us to continue to perform well», he ends.

CTE Wind R&D and Consulting services are the first choice when it comes to foundation design regardless of the WTG-manufacturer, model, size, power or soil conditions. Thanks to internal R&D-Team with senior engineers, holding over 100 years of cumulated experience in the design of wind turbine foundations, nothing is impossible.

La Richardais (FRA) – In 2019 Developers worldwide have globally commissioned a little over 45GW of onshore wind turbines. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the Danish firm Vestas remained this way the world’s leading wind turbine supplier, with Spanish-German wind engineering company Siemens Gamesa a strong second. Chinas manufacturer number one Goldwind was third in the rankings, while US-Leader GE Renewable Energy’s secured its fourth place. Together the top four manufacturers accounted for 55 percent of the market share.

100 years of cumulated experience

This statement applies more or less also to CTE Wind, which calculated, designed and evaluated about 5000 WTG-foundations in 2019 around the globe. Thanks to CTE Wind’s internal R&D, with senior engineers holding over 100 years of cumulated experience in the design of wind turbine foundations worldwide, new turbine models from the top manufacturers as well as less common WTG-models from smaller or local manufacturers are only a little challenge. CTE Wind engineering services lead to state-of-the-art foundation solutions for wind turbines. Regardless of whether it is a prototype, such as GE’s giant 12 MW Haliade X or smaller 1 MW machine, from German ENO or Dutch EWT.

Wooden tower

Also worth mentioning: the different types of towers for wind turbines. Concrete (hollow foundation) and steel towers are well known to CTE Wind. Both tower systems are suitable to be used alone or in combination. Even foundations with wooden towers were calculated and designed by CTE Wind in the past. The sum of all experiences made during the projects since 2003 is the reason why their engineering services in foundation design are the first choice for wind turbine manufacturers, wind park developers and EPC contractors worldwide.

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Two simply but effective foundation solutions are the rock anchor, designed for a wind park in Mexico and the high plinth solution for a wind farm in Chile. They are highly cost efficient, feasible and have proven to be very reliable in many projects.

Bilbao (ESP) – Special requests often demand tailormade solutions. But tailormade needs an high specialization and a lot of knowhow from the engineers in the specific field. In foundation design for wind turbine generator (WTG), this specific knowledge is not that common, except for CTE Wind International. Their senior engineers are often asked to find new design solutions. For this purpose, they resort to tried and tested instead of reinventing the wheel. Two simply but effective solutions are the rock anchor and the high plinth solution. They aren’t NEW solutions but are highly cost efficient, feasible and their reliability has been proved in many projects. This article features two project cases, among many others, where CTE Wind International designed a rock anchor for a wind park in Mexico and a high plinth foundation for a wind farm in Chile.

Cost savings thanks to rock anchor

In Mexico CTE Wind Ibérica was selected as WTG foundation designer by a Spanish EPC company. The project has more than 20 WTGs with concrete towers. The project analysis conducted by the Spanish expert in foundation design has led to the recommendation to deploy two different solutions in order to optimize the costs of project. In fact, the soil conditions showed that over a third of the wind turbines were planned on rocky ground. Rather than equipping all wind turbine with standard slab foundations, CTE Wind’s engineering team decided together with the customer to implement rock anchors. This solution uses the rock masses as a WTG foundation. In that way the construction company is able take advantage of the earth crust instead of building a slab foundation. The costs for the reinforced concrete and the construction work can be saved. But this solution is specially challenging as the engineers have to adapt the foundation, with an interface, between the concrete towers and the rock anchors. Not to forget the special design work of these anchors that needs to be done. Finally, the client was impressed and satisfied about the result. But more important: the project costs were below the initial budget.

High plinth for extra height

In another case, CTE Wind was approached by a global construction company and explained the challenge for its project in Chile, with over 35 WTGs. The customer needed an hub height of 4 meters more to increase the energy production and ensure the yield and so its income. They weren’t totally satisfied with a complex solution by one of CTE Wind’s competitors. That is why the construction company asked CTE Wind to find a simple, reliable, feasible and cost-effective solution. That is how the high plinth foundation was chosen: a solution already tested and implemented in multiple projects in Europe. The idea of this foundation is to reach higher hub height with a high pedestal. The tower stands 3 to 6 meters above the «ground level», keeping the gravity foundation independent from the tower system. Ideally the solution provides a longer anchor cage. CTE Wind’s engineering team designed the anchor cage for this project and determined the bolt length and steel quality. If needed CTE Wind can also prepare the detailed anchor cage drawing. After comparing the results of CTE Wind’s predesigns to the competitor’s solutions, the customer decided to go ahead with CTE Wind’s high plinth foundation. No difficulties in regards the construction have been reported. On the contrary, the Spanish expert of WTG foundation design was congratulated.

.

.

Two simply but effective foundation solutions are the rock anchor, designed for a wind park in Mexico and the high plinth solution for a wind farm in Chile. They are highly cost efficient, feasible and have proven to be very reliable in many projects.

Bilbao (ESP) – Special requests often demand tailormade solutions. But tailormade needs an high specialization and a lot of knowhow from the engineers in the specific field. In foundation design for wind turbine generator (WTG), this specific knowledge is not that common, except for CTE Wind International. Their senior engineers are often asked to find new design solutions. For this purpose, they resort to tried and tested instead of reinventing the wheel. Two simply but effective solutions are the rock anchor and the high plinth solution. They aren’t NEW solutions but are highly cost efficient, feasible and their reliability has been proved in many projects. This article features two project cases, among many others, where CTE Wind International designed a rock anchor for a wind park in Mexico and a high plinth foundation for a wind farm in Chile.

Cost savings thanks to rock anchor

In Mexico CTE Wind Ibérica was selected as WTG foundation designer by a Spanish EPC company. The project has more than 20 WTGs with concrete towers. The project analysis conducted by the Spanish expert in foundation design has led to the recommendation to deploy two different solutions in order to optimize the costs of project. In fact, the soil conditions showed that over a third of the wind turbines were planned on rocky ground. Rather than equipping all wind turbine with standard slab foundations, CTE Wind’s engineering team decided together with the customer to implement rock anchors. This solution uses the rock masses as a WTG foundation. In that way the construction company is able take advantage of the earth crust instead of building a slab foundation. The costs for the reinforced concrete and the construction work can be saved. But this solution is specially challenging as the engineers have to adapt the foundation, with an interface, between the concrete towers and the rock anchors. Not to forget the special design work of these anchors that needs to be done. Finally, the client was impressed and satisfied about the result. But more important: the project costs were below the initial budget.

High plinth for extra height

In another case, CTE Wind was approached by a global construction company and explained the challenge for its project in Chile, with over 35 WTGs. The customer needed an hub height of 4 meters more to increase the energy production and ensure the yield and so its income. They weren’t totally satisfied with a complex solution by one of CTE Wind’s competitors. That is why the construction company asked CTE Wind to find a simple, reliable, feasible and cost-effective solution. That is how the high plinth foundation was chosen: a solution already tested and implemented in multiple projects in Europe. The idea of this foundation is to reach higher hub height with a high pedestal. The tower stands 3 to 6 meters above the «ground level», keeping the gravity foundation independent from the tower system. Ideally the solution provides a longer anchor cage. CTE Wind’s engineering team designed the anchor cage for this project and determined the bolt length and steel quality. If needed CTE Wind can also prepare the detailed anchor cage drawing. After comparing the results of CTE Wind’s predesigns to the competitor’s solutions, the customer decided to go ahead with CTE Wind’s high plinth foundation. No difficulties in regards the construction have been reported. On the contrary, the Spanish expert of WTG foundation design was congratulated.