Critical Review of Three Selected Papers on the Design of Wind Turbine Foundations

Abstract

Research on wind energy, as a potential substitute for fossil fuels, has gained popularity worldwide with the arising global warming, environmental issues and scarcity of fossil fuel reserves. Wind turbine is known to be a device that harnesses wind energy to produce electricity cleanly. The foundation is the main structural element needed to carry the turbine and transit static and dynamic loads into the soil. When designing wind turbine foundations, several aspects are investigated to ensure safe and economical design details such as total site investigations, different loads on the foundation, as well as creep settlement. Furthermore, factors such as strength, stiffness, stability, differential settlement, durability and economy are also considered in the foundation design process. This work aims to review different designs of wind turbine foundations installed in South Africa, Turkey and Antarctica.