Floating Wind Turbines - Overview of Main Challenges, Expectations & Future Project Solutions
(Room Jupiter 8)
01 Sep 15
4:00 PM
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5:30 PM
Floating wind is considered as the breakthrough to overcome foundations costs related to offshore wind in deep locations (either near or far shore).
Due to the harsh environment but also the maturing technology, the main challenge to overcome for floating wind is hydrodynamic stability. Different support structures types are currently being tested:
- The ballast-stabilised “Spar”
- The mooring-line stabilised or Tension Leg Platform “TLP”
- The buoyancy-stabilised or semi-submersible “semi-sub”
These different support structures types are under appraisal in different power generators configurations:
- Vertical axis
- Upwind
- Downwind
- 2-blades
- Multiple turbines
- Cluster solutions (combination wind & wave or wind & aquaculture)
Although the majority of the concepts use the “classic wind” configuration, no single optimised solution has yet been identified and the configurations vary even more as foundations can be designed as “full package” or as “separate” with a turbine selected by the project developer.
Out of the thirtyish, mainly European, concepts currently identified from concept to full-scale pilot, to date, only 2 full-scale (2-MW range) pilots and 11 smaller scale prototypes are deployed offshore.
In addition to this, to overcome installation costs, the industry is even developing floating transmission solutions.
In Europe and the US, over 50 GW of offshore wind projects in deep waters between 40 and 60 meters are in planning, with permits submitted or approved. Taking into account the rest of the world, the opportunities are more than ten times higher.
But to date, what is the return on experience, how does the industry foresee installation and O&M, what has been done to overcome specific challenges such as park configuration, fatigue, electrical connection etc.? Are there other challenges that have not yet been investigated and, last but not least, what could floating wind bring to South-East Asia ?