Novel solution for floating offshore wind industry

12 April, 2023

From left to right: Lucas Lowe-Houghton (Tugdock); Wim Sarens (Sarens); Carl Sarens (Sarens); Shane Carr (Tugdock)

Floating offshore wind

Floating wind uses the same turbines as conventional ‘seabed-fixed’ offshore wind but they are deployed on top of floating structures that are secured to the seabed with mooring lines and anchors. Electricity is transmitted to shore via subsea cables. This technology opens up the possibility of deploying offshore wind projects in regions with deeper waters in established markets like the UK and France, and also in new regions like Japan and the west coast of the USA. A report by the Global Wind Energy Council stated: “Interest in floating offshore wind is growing rapidly. A number of early pioneer markets in western Europe and Southeast Asia are leading the way, with policy in place or in finalization to support this rapid growth. This rapid growth in ambition points strongly to the emergence of floating offshore wind as a technology ready for deployment at scale. “By 2026 we expect annual installations to surpass 1GW per year, a milestone that fixed offshore wind reached in 2010. From this point forward, floating offshore wind will be in its commercial phase. Installation rates will continue to increase and project size will grow, contributing to rapid cost reduction. “Full commercialisation is expected to be achieved toward the end of this decade with the first multi-GW level large scale floating projects connected in both Europe and East Asia. These strong projections can be justified given the volume of known project activity and extent of leasing rounds underway in countries like France, Japan, South Korea and the UK.”

https://tugdock.com/

https://twitter.com/tugdocklimited

https://www.linkedin.com/company/tugdock-limited/

https://www.sarens.com/

https://twitter.com/Sarens

https://www.linkedin.com/company/sarens/