A Principle Power-led consortium has won a US grant to develop new mooring technology for floating wind turbines in transitional waters.
The consortium has been awarded a contract by the US Government’s National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium (NOWRDC) for the project titled ‘Demonstration of Shallow-Water Mooring Components for Floating Offshore Wind Turbines’ (ShallowFloat).
The international consortium is also comprised of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Aker Solutions, American Bureau of Shipping and Technology From Ideas (TfI) in Ireland.
ShallowFloat aims to demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of soft mooring designs for floating offshore wind turbines by incorporating an “innovative” load reducing polymer spring in the mooring lines.
The spring technology, developed by TfI, has the potential to reduce peak loads by more than 50%, enabling reduction in both size and required holding capacity of anchors.
The polymer springs are expected to reduce installation vessel requirements, enabling drastic reductions in cost for FOWT station-keeping systems in shallow waters, Principle Power said.
The objective of the NOWRDC-funded study is to design a bankable, low-cost, shallow-water mooring solution that has an Approval-in-Principle (AIP) from the American Bureau of Shipping.
It will provide developers with reliable technical and economic data about the ability of floating foundations to potentially offer a more competitive, lower risk solution compared to bottom-fixed jacket structures in certain shallow water sites.
TfI CEO Noel Halloran stated: “We are delighted that Principle Power, the market leader in floating offshore wind technology, is proposing Tfi technology to enable shallow mooring of their platforms.
“It is a very important recognition for the company and its team of engineers who have been working intensively to get the technology to this point.”
Over the next 18 months, TfI will be demonstrating their technology in Scotland, France and the US.
“We will be challenging the ‘steel thinkers’ in this industry to reimagine their mooring designs and take advantage of the opportunities we offer for load reduction” said Halloran.