- Institution: University of Strathclyde
- Primary supervisor: Dr Mehrad Abbas Kazemi Amiri
- PhD student: Rohan von Solms
- Conducted in collaboration with ESB
As offshore wind moves into deeper waters, floating foundations have become the preferred solution. However, their technical complexity and high costs create strong incentives to explore fixed-bottom alternatives that can economically extend deployment into depths of 80–100 metres – areas traditionally requiring jacket structures or floating systems. Unlocking these depths would open up numerous offshore sites around the UK and Ireland, representing gigawatts of untapped wind energy potential.
This project focuses on developing and assessing the feasibility of novel fixed-bottom solutions for deep-water wind turbine deployment from both structural and economic perspectives. The research spans technologies at different Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) and begins with a comprehensive review of existing and emerging concepts, including transferable innovations from other sectors. Each solution will be evaluated for its technical performance and cost implications across manufacturing, installation, and maintenance.
Building on this analysis, the project will propose new designs or design modifications to overcome current limitations. It will also explore add-on technologies such as advanced dampers and energy-dissipative systems – commonly used in seismic engineering – adapted for offshore wind applications. These enhancements aim to improve lifetime performance, optimise design, and reduce Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE) compared to baseline floating designs, while considering the full loading envelope of offshore wind turbines.
The outcome will be a set of technically and economically viable fixed-bottom concepts that could transform deep-water wind development, offering industry new pathways to expand renewable energy capacity at scale.
Meet the researcher
Hi, I’m Rohan, and I’m very excited to join the EnerHy team.
Before starting here, I completed an integrated Master’s degree at the University of Portsmouth, where my passion for renewable energy truly took hold.
My current research project, titled Exploring Solutions for Fixed-Bottom Offshore Wind Turbine Supports to Unlock Deep-Water Sites, focuses on investigating novel support structures that can efficiently extend offshore wind technology into deeper waters, ultimately helping to maximize energy generation potential and accelerate our Net Zero targets.
For me, pursuing Net Zero research is all about applying the engineering knowledge that I gained during my degree to be part of the solution and help make the world a better and cleaner place!