LDD has successfully completed drilling monopile foundations for RWE Innogy's Gwynt y Mor Offshore Wind Farm, North Wales, UK. LDD has been working on the project since 2011, when it designed, built and delivered one of the world's largest reverse circulation drill rigs, the LD5000, within 10 months.

Because of the pile design, the LD5000 - capable of drilling up to 8.0 m - had to relief drill tapered piles using underreamers to fit a 4.6 m gap, then open up to a maximum 6.0 m. The final pile was drilled in April 2014.

LDD specialises in creating underreamers for a variety of projects, and was the only company onsite at the Gwynt y Mor project with the relief drilling capability to drill the maximum diameters to the required depths with under-reamers.

David Knights, project manager, LDD, said, "Gwynt y Mor is the largest offshore wind farm currently under construction in Europe, and is already generating electricity, which is being fed into the National Grid. LDD can now look forward to our next large project with the LD5000, and developing the LD7000, which will continue to showcase our in-depth understanding of large diameter drilling."

RWE Innogy UK's Gwynt y Mor's project director, Toby Edmonds, said, "All 160 foundations are now installed, more than eight miles offshore at Gwynt y Mor. This is a tremendous achievement for the project. We can now focus on installing the final 19 turbines, commissioning the entire array and bringing online a renewable energy source drawn from the UK's natural resources and capable of supporting approximately 400,000 homes."

A video of the LD5000, which shows the drill string being added to drill a 6.0 m diameter monopile as part of this project, can be viewed online here.