New Energy World™
New Energy World™ embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low-carbon technologies.
Problem solving: how wind power uses a UK agency to resolve demanding engineering challenges
11/2/2026
8 min read
Feature
An Innovate UK agency helps connect big company problems with solutions that often come from small firms in other industrial sectors, to avoid reinventing the wheel. New Energy World Senior Editor Will Dalrymple MEI reports.
Here’s a problem. Say you want to install a new offshore wind turbine. After the foundation is in, the next step is to install the tower.
Lack of access is a major problem, as both parts and installation equipment have to be offloaded from the supply boat and hauled through a small exterior hatch inside the tower section by the wind turbine installation technicians.
Their job is to install bolts on to a series of massive threaded rods which thrust out vertically from the foundation. While a hydraulic torque wrench will take care of tightening, it’s still up to the technician to lift the 20 kg bolt from ground level to the flange that circles the exterior wall, at a height between waist and shoulder. Once the first is lifted, there are 299 left. And that’s just the foundation; each of the three blades will need attaching with a similar ring of bolts.