HELIX Final Workshop showcases breakthroughs in offshore wind fastener technologies
The HELIX project celebrated the successful culmination of its work with its Final Workshop, held on September 10th, 2025, as part of the EUROCORR 2025 congress in Stavanger, Norway.
The event brought together researchers, industrial experts, and stakeholders from across Europe to explore the project’s advances in developing cost-effective, corrosion-resistant, and hydrogen embrittlement-resistant fasteners for the offshore wind sector.
Over the past four years, HELIX has focused on one of the industry’s key technical challenges: ensuring the long-term performance and safety of large-diameter, high-strength fasteners in harsh marine environments while reducing costs. The Final Workshop presented key results, including new steel compositions, zinc-flake coatings, and insights into hydrogen absorption mechanisms, alongside practical applications for offshore wind turbines.
The workshop began with a presentation by Dr. Amadeu Concustell from Eurecat, who introduced the project’s main outcomes under the title “Hydrogen embrittlement resistant new steel links solutions for offshore wind turbines”. He highlighted the development of new, lower-cost steel grades that combine high strength with improved corrosion resistance, enabling the safe use of fasteners beyond M64 in offshore conditions.
Dr. Concustell continued with a second presentation on “Evaluation of environmental effects on fatigue crack growth of High Strength Steels”. His talk shed light on how environmental factors impact the durability of high-strength steels in real operating conditions.
The focus then shifted to surface protection. Florian Feldmann from Dörken Coatings GmbH & Co. KG presented “Zinc flake coating for optimized high strength steels for offshore wind energy applications”, describing the coating process, morphology, and results from industrial testing.
Next, Katerina Zambochova from the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague explored the “Effect of coatings with zinc flakes on hydrogen embrittlement of high strength steel during atmospheric corrosion”, providing valuable insights into how protective layers influence hydrogen uptake and long-term material performance.
The final technical session was delivered by Dr. Flavien Vucko from the French Corrosion Institute (RISE), who presented “Exposition under real service environment of large HV-bolts for offshore wind turbines application – HELIX project”. His talk shared results from real marine exposure, validating HELIX fastener solutions under operational conditions.
The HELIX Final Workshop not only celebrated the project’s achievements but also reinforced their significance for the future of offshore wind. By delivering lower-cost, corrosion-resistant, large-diameter fasteners, HELIX supports the scaling up of offshore wind foundations for turbines above 16 MW, while enabling safer, more efficient assembly and disassembly.
The results also pave the way for wider industrial uptake and standardisation, ensuring that HELIX innovations will continue to contribute to the durability, reliability, and sustainability of offshore wind infrastructure in the years to come.
