Wind Floats A Deepwater Future

Are floating turbines the future of wind energy?

Jennifer Johnson, July 17, 2016 (Energy Digital)

“Wind turbine technology has come a long way in the quarter of a century since the world’s first offshore wind farm, Denmark’s Vindeby, was installed [with .45MW, 52.5m turbines]…Traditional ‘fixed’ turbines are limited to water depths of around 40 to 50m, mostly relegating offshore wind farms to the shallow waters of the continental shelf…[Deploying turbines beyond 100m] could allow them to harvest energy from some of the strongest winds on the planet…There are currently dozens of [‘floating’ turbine] pilot projects…which consist of [wind turbines mounted on buoyant structures and here are five proposals that could revolutionize] wind energy…1. Trident Winds’ Morro Bay Offshore Project…2. New England’s Aqua Ventus [off Maine]…3. Floatgen [off France’s Le Croisic coast]…4. [Principle Power’s] WindFloat [off Portugal’s Aguçadoura coast, and…5. [Statoil’s] Hywind [off Scotland’s coast]…” click here for more

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