Noise reduction for offshore pile-driving of monopiles

Abstract

The demand for offshore wind farms is developing rapidly due to the increased demand for renewable energy. Installation of foundation piles for offshore wind, however, are accompanied by a serious by-product which is the high underwater noise levels emitted during the pile-driving process. Current mitigation methods have proven to decrease the underwater noise emission, but these methods come at high costs. Moreover, these methods do not reduce the noise generation, but mitigate the noise that is already radiated into the water column. This study investigates a new concept, namely the reduction of noise at its source by altering the waves as they propagate downwards the pile.