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Concept
Floating wind turbine
Summary
A floating wind turbine is an offshore wind turbine mounted on a floating structure that allows the turbine to generate electricity in water depths where fixed-foundation turbines are not feasible.
Floating wind farms have the potential to significantly increase the sea area available for offshore wind farms, especially in countries with limited shallow waters, such as Japan, France and US West coast.
Locating wind farms further offshore can also reduce visual pollution, provide better accommodation for fishing and shipping lanes, and reach stronger and more consistent winds.
Commercial floating wind turbines are mostly at the early phase of development, with several single turbine prototypes having been installed since 2007.
there are 3 operational floating wind farms. The first is the 30 MW Hywind Scotland with 5 floating turbines, developed by Equinor ASA and commissioned in October 2017.
The concept for large-scale offshore floating wind turbines was introduced by Professor William E. Heronemus at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1972.
It was not until the mid 1990s, after the commercial wind industry was well established, that the topic was taken up again by the mainstream research community.
Blue H Technologies of the Netherlands deployed the world's first floating wind turbine, off the coast of Apulia, Italy in December 2007.
The 80 kW prototype was installed in waters deep in order to gather test data on wind and sea conditions, and was decommissioned at the end of 2008. The turbine utilized a tension-leg platform design and a two-bladed turbine.
The first large-capacity, 2.3-megawatt floating wind turbine was Hywind, which became operational in the North Sea near Norway in September 2009.
The turbine was constructed by Siemens Wind Power and mounted on a floating tower with a 100 m deep draft, with a float tower constructed by Technip.
After assembly in the calmer waters of Åmøy Fjord near Stavanger, Norway, the 120 m tall tower was towed 10 km offshore into 220 m deep water, 10 km southwest of Karmøy, on 6 June 2009 for a two-year test deployment.
Official source
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