Fibregy - Composites for a sustainable environment

The open sea is a very aggressive environment, which largely affects the maintenance costs of the offshore installations. A massive amount of steel goes into offshore assets, which explains why corrosion accounts for approximately 60% of offshore maintenance costs. Despite the convenient immunity to corrosion and superior fatigue performance of Fibre Reinforced Polymers (FRP), none of the structures of the Floating Offshore Wind Turbine concepts that have reached a high TRL are based on these materials. If we look at the field of tidal power generators, the use of FRP materials for rotor blades is common but, with rare exceptions, the platform structure -the major cost item- is made of steel.

The reasons for this oversight are; the lack of design and assessment (certification) guidelines; the existence of different technology gaps that have to be filled to demonstrate the full feasibility of using FRP materials in the offshore industry; and, the need to prove a significant lower life cycle reduction with their application.