New electron beam welding tech used on wind turbine monopile set for Dogger Bank

Cambridge Vacuum Engineering (CVE), the firm behind the technology, said it had welded together a section for a turbine monopile foundation set for Dogger Bank using a new version of electron beam welding for greater efficiency. 

The firm is now applying this technology at the 2400MW Dogger Bank A & B Dogger Bank A & B (2400MW) Offshoreoff Yorkshire, UK, Europe Click to see full details project in the North Sea, partnering with UK developers SSE Renewables, which co-owns the wind farm with Equinor and Eni, plus offshore foundations company Sif Group, and the Welding Institute (TWI). 

Electron beam welding uses a focused beam of electrons targeted with magnets inside a vacuum to weld components together with high precision. 

According to CVE, the tailored version of the technology it uses, named Ebflow, improves outcomes by creating a small vacuum around the seam that is being welded without the need for a large vacuum chamber often associated with the process. 

The company claims it can weld monopiles 25 times faster than typical methods like arc welding while “using 90% less energy, costing 88% less and producing 97% less CO2”. 

CVE installed the Ebflow system at Sif’s Maasvlakte 2 facility in Rotterdam, where its performance was inspected by regulatory body DNV, which subsequently issued a technology qualification for the process.  

The monopile is set to be installed at Dogger Bank A&B in late 2023.