Dong and Oxford University are taking the lead on the Pile Soil Analysis (PISA) project being run as part of the Carbon Trust's Offshore Wind Accelerator (OWA) programme.
The project is testing monopiles that use thinner steel. Dong believes a slight reduction on the traditional 100 milimetre thickness could cut offshore costs signficantly.
Bladt Industries and DanSteel were contracted to build the lighter foundations, which have now been installed at an onshore site in Cowden, England. Further testing will take place at a site in Dunkirk, France.
Backers of the study also includes RWE, Vattenfall, Statoil, Statkraft, SSE and Scottish Power, with additional support from Imperial College, London, and University College Dublin.
Jesper Skov Gretlund, project manager for PISA, said traditional monopiles were designed with conservative levels of steel.
"It is the technical piece in the puzzle to be able to design less-conservative foundations. We can gain an understanding of what is going on and thereby be able to make slimmer foundations," said Gretlund.