A consortium led by Principle Power has been selected for contract negotiations for a $850,000 grant for a project to develop new mooring systems for deepwater floating wind platforms.
The funding award, from the National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium, for the DeepFarm project aims to “accelerate the deployment of deepwater floating offshore wind projects”.
The research and development initiative will investigate a variety of mooring components. Each will contribute to the design of a “pioneering” mooring system to reduce the levelized cost of energy (LCoE) of floating offshore wind.
Principle Power chief executive Joao Metelo said: “This award once again demonstrates Principle Power’s ability to lead cutting edge research and innovation, building on our technical excellence and proven expertise in floating wind.
“We are looking forward to working with the key market players, world-class universities and leading research centres to deliver technical solutions for mooring systems that will underpin the competitiveness of floating wind while achieving significant cost reductions.”
DeepFarm will enhance currently available open-source software tools for floating turbine design – FAST.Farm & MoorDyn – to “optimise innovative mooring system components while reducing lifecycle costs.”
The project will also entail the development of an open-source mooring system design coupled with an LCoE assessment of shared-anchor layouts.
The consortium includes Aker Solutions, the American Bureau of Shipping, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Scana Offshore, and the University of Massachusetts.
“Principle Power is thrilled to lead this talented consortium. Successful execution will undoubtedly contribute to the growth and maturation of the US offshore wind market by helping to unlock the potential of deepwater projects,” said Principle Power chief technology officer Steven Barras.