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Reference Number ETI-WI1016
Title Floating Platform System
Status Completed
Energy Categories Renewable Energy Sources (Wind Energy) 100%;
Research Types Applied Research and Development 100%
Science and Technology Fields ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering) 100%
UKERC Cross Cutting Characterisation Not Cross-cutting 100%
Principal Investigator Project Contact
No email address given
Glosten Associates, USA
Award Type Institute Project
Funding Source ETI
Start Date 11 February 2013
End Date 20 April 2015
Duration 26 months
Total Grant Value £4,000,000
Industrial Sectors Technical Consultancy
Region Overseas
Programme
 
Investigators Principal Investigator Project Contact , Glosten Associates, USA (100.000%)
Web Site
Objectives
Abstract
  • A FEED study into the design of an offshore wind floating platform system demonstrator
  • Tension Leg Platform designed in partnership with Alstom 150-6MW Haliade turbine

Floating turbine technology is of strategic importance to any future UK offshore wind strategy. 

This project drew upon earlier ETI studies. These showed that floating foundations could be very attractive, by allowing the UK to access higher wind sites that are reasonably close to shore. Our analysis suggests that floating offshore wind has the medium to long term potential to deliver attractive energy costs.

The Glosten Associates, a US-based navel architecture and marine engineering firm designed a tension leg platform (TLP) floating system demonstrator through a Front End Engineering Design (FEED) Study.

This has shown that UK offshore wind energy costs could fall to below £85MWh by the late 2020s, with further reductions possible as the technology matures. The floating platform is designed to provide high capacity factors in wind speeds exceeding 10 metres per second in water between 50 and 1200 metres deep. The TLP technology is suitable for water depths from as low as 55 metres (much lower than conventional TLP developed from oil and gas experience) up to several hundred metres. Floating foundations could enable the UK (and other countries) to develop a wider range of offshore wind sites that are relatively close enough to shore, rather than being limited to sites suitable for foundations fixed to the seabed.

The findings and deliverable reports from this project have been made available to the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult the technology innovation and research centre for offshore wind, wave and tidal energy to inform their ongoing work in the area of offshore wind.

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Publications

10 years of innovation - Offshore Wind Project Timeline 2007 - 2017

An ETI Perspective - Lessons learnt from UK offshore renewables innovation

Floating Foundations for Offshore Wind - Presentation

Glosten Feed Study - Key Findings - One Page Summary

Infographic - 10 Years to Prepare - Floating wind

Offshore Wind - Floating Turbines (Presentation)

Offshore Wind Floating System Demonstrator - Request for Proposal

PelaStar Cost of Energy: A cost study of the PelaStar floating foundation system in UK waters

Added to Database 10/10/18