ATHIENOU WIND FARM

Athienou Wind Farm is a completed renewable-energy installation in the Athienou area of Cyprus, built around a proprietary diffuser-augmented wind turbine design rather than conventional off-the-shelf turbines. Each unit pairs a five-blade rotor with a circumferential diffuser ring, mounted on a tapered steel pole set on a reinforced-concrete footing foundation.

ASD designed the pole, the diffuser structure and the footing as a single integrated structural system. Aerodynamic loads on the diffuser, dynamic loads at the rotor, and ground response at the footing were resolved in one coordinated load path, allowing pole slenderness, diffuser stiffness and footing geometry to be tuned against each other. This controlled deflections under operational wind loads and limited foundation rotation — critical for a shrouded rotor whose performance is sensitive to misalignment.

The diffuser shroud combines a steel structural frame with carbon-composite panels, and the detailing at the steel-to-composite connections was worked out alongside the primary structural design. The foundation design addressed cyclic wind-fatigue demands and the seismic conditions of the Cyprus region, with the base flange connection to the concrete footing sized for the overturning moments generated by both rotor thrust and diffuser drag.

ASD provided the full structural and foundation design for the installation, covering the steel pole, the diffuser structure and the concrete footings.