The evaluation of the site conditions and project design basis cover a crucial role in the design of an offshore wind farm. These activities are carried out during the initial lifecycle of an offshore wind farm but will have a major impact on all the subsequent stages of the project, including the execution and in service phases. A comprehensive and reliable site condition evaluation generally requires the acquisition of a sufficient amount of quality site data including metocean, scour and marine conditions, earthquake conditions, geotechnical and geophysical information. Throughout the future phases of the offshore wind farm development, it is important that the available site data is used effectively, and it is ensured that the engineering concepts under consideration will stay suitable given the available knowledge of the site. Instead, the design basis determines the path forward for the project execution by establishing the codes and standards, the design parameters, the philosophy, the assumptions, the methodology and the other requirements that will be followed in the design. The design basis evaluation is indeed critical to define all the main assumptions that could have a major impact on the project, especially if not appropriately defined at an early stage.
This paper will clarify the industry project certification requirements to be met as for IEC/IECRE, providing a high-level discussion about the quantity and quality of site data and the documents expected from a certifier perspective. Focus is given to geotechnical aspects.
