A guide created to aid the acceleration of floating offshore wind development has today been published by the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult.
The Guide to a Floating Offshore Wind Farm is an online interactive guide on the fundamentals of floating offshore wind technology.
Funded by ORE Catapult’s Floating Offshore Wind Centre of Excellence (FOW CoE), the Crown Estate, and Crown Estate Scotland, and delivered in collaboration with BVG Associates, the guide contains a visual illustration of the full lifecycle of a floating offshore wind farm.
It seeks to help companies and stakeholders develop a greater understanding of the components and processes involved in the development of floaters.
Although in the early stages of its development, FOW technology is set grow significantly, with 6GW to 10GW of capacity expected to be operational by the end of 2030.
Head of floating wind at ORE Catapult Ralph Torr said: “This guide will be hugely beneficial in helping a broad range of stakeholders develop an understanding of floating offshore wind projects and technologies – from those directly involved in project development, to those with an interest and ambition to learn more about this exciting industry.
“A common understanding is key to ensuring that stakeholders are able to support the development of the industry effectively in the coming years.
“The purpose of the Floating Offshore Wind Centre of Excellence is to accelerate the build out of a successful floating wind industry and this resource is another important tool in achieving that.”
Crown Estate sector lead for floating wind Tim Stiven added: “Floating offshore wind is an exciting new technology which is shaping up to be the next frontier in the UK’s transition to a more sustainable future.
“People will understandably have questions about what this means for them; so whether it’s maximising the commercial opportunities of a new supply chain or understanding any impacts on local communities, guides such as this have an important role to play in developing a shared understanding of floating offshore wind and how to engage with its development.”
The guide builds on the 2019 launch of Guide to an Offshore Wind Farm (Guide to an Offshore Wind Farm – ORE, for fixed offshore wind, and comes just days before the industry gathers at RenewableUK’s Global Offshore Wind 2023 conference in London.