A 3D printed anchor and a self-charging mooring line monitoring device are two of eight innovative technologies announced today as winners of a technology acceleration competition, funded by the Scottish government and run by the Carbon Trust’s Floating Wind Joint Industry Project.
The competition was designed to address four key industry challenge areas, that need to be overcome to commercialise floating wind – monitoring and inspection, mooring systems, heavy lift maintenance and tow to port maintenance.
The eight winners will receive a share of £1m from the Scottish government, in addition to support from the 14 offshore wind developers represented in the Floating Wind JIP.
The successful applicants are from a variety of sectors including oil and gas, IT and telecommunications, and engineering.
Innovations range in maturity, therefore the funding will be used to support different activities from desktop studies to offshore demonstration.
Condition monitoring software developed by Fugro, AS Mosley and University of Strathclyde was one of the winners.
The system uses acceleration and motion data points from floating offshore wind structures to extrapolate how the wider structure responds to stress.
Technology from Ideas and WFS Technologies were successful with a load monitoring system to identify stresses on mooring lines and times when maintenance is needed.
The monitoring system will be integrated into an existing spring, which also acts as a dampener on mooring lines, and is powered by movement of the lines.
Dublin Offshore won with a load reduction device that sits partway up the mooring line and pivots in the water to minimise movement of the floating platform during wave events.
A new pressure-based dampener, developed by Intelligent Mooring Systems and University of Exeter, was another successful technology.
The dampener sits between the platform and mooring line to reduce the load on floating platforms was
RCAM Technologies and the Floating Wind Technology Company have developed a concrete anchor, produced using 3D printing technology, which is sunk and then embedded in the seabed through suction.
Vryhof has built an adjustable lock on the seabed used to manipulate the tension of the mooring lines.
The lock is an alternative to a winch sitting on the turbine platform, and enables vessels to adjust the tension of mooring lines at a safe distance from the platform.
Conbit has developed a temporary crane which sits on top of the turbine to winch parts up and down for maintenance.
Aker Solutions was successful with a splice box connecting two dynamic array cables, and allowing them to be wet-stored on the seabed when a turbine is towed to port.
The aim is also enable an array of floating wind turbines to remain operational when one floating platform is removed for maintenance.
Scottish Minister for Energy Paul Wheelhouse (pictured) said: “We are funding the Carbon Trust’s Floating Wind Technology Acceleration Competition in order to address key technical challenges in the sector.
“Given Scotland’s unique deep water profile, floating offshore wind will undoubtedly play a huge role in our future energy system, as we transition to a net zero economy and we know that key overseas markets are also looking to exploit floating wind technology to meet their own energy needs.
“The innovative solutions developed by the competition winners will help reduce costs in the sector and could allow floating wind technology to reach commercial scale deployment earlier than previously anticipated and that could prove vital as Scotland and other coastal nations seek to head off the climate emergency.”
Carbon Trust offshore wind director Jan Matthiesen said: “Floating wind is on the precipice of scaling to deliver significant capacity in the energy system.
“The competition is supporting a number of exciting technology innovations in critical challenge areas identified by industry.
“We are excited and optimistic for both the potential of these innovations to reach commercialisation and their ability to positively impact the sector.”