Ice condition parameters of the Gulf of Bothnia with relation to offshore wind turbine design

• Main Authors: Tikanmäki, Maria, Heinonen, Jaakko, Montonen, Anni, Eriksson, Patrick B.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Luleå University of Technology 2019
• Subjects: Ice conditions; Baltic Sea; Offshore wind turbines; /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/affordable_and_clean_energy; name=SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy; Arctic
• Online Access: https://cris.vtt.fi/en/publications/7702cc82-98fa-48ca-9ea9-8b3f3d6f3340; http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85070842394&partnerID=8YFLogxK

VTT has developed a web-based ice load portal for the Baltic Sea for use in offshore wind turbine design. In the portal, map-based environmental parameters, load calculation methods and structures are combined in order to shorten the planning phase of offshore wind turbines. In this paper, the ice condition data used in the ice load portal is presented for the Gulf of Bothnia. The data is based on the series of 37 years of the Finnish Ice Service’s ice charts for navigational purposes. The earlier ice charts from the winters 1980/1981 to 2005/2006 were first digitized for the statistical analysis. The later ice charts from the winters 2006/2007 to 2016/2017 were already available in digital form. From these charts, parameters such as ice thickness, ice type, concentration and degree of ridging were analyzed to achieve design parameters for the offshore wind turbine design. In this paper, the main findings from the analysis are presented.