The main objective is to build knowledge on the future generation of floating substructures for very large wind turbines.

To reach future scenarios containing offshore wind installations of turbines with blades reaching 200m in length, the industry needs steep improvements and key innovations in multiple areas: progress in production, transportation and installation techniques, high-strength and low-cost material combinations, and advanced aerodynamic blade control features and control systems to reduce loads.

Key issues will have to be solved in order to be able to manufacture and optimize structures that were initially thought for smaller rotors. Passive and active load mitigation techniques need to be developed and studied. Engineering models, which might be applied outside their validity range, need to be tested and possibly validated against models of higher complexity.

Segment: New Markets, Blue Growth

Period: 2020 – 2023

Project Owner: Institute for Energy Technology (IFE)

GCE NODE Project Manager: Ann Marchioro

Funding: The Research Council of Norway (ENERGIX Program)

Research Partners: Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), University of Texas, Dallas

Industry Partners: Equinor AS, Aibel AS, Dr. techn Olav Olsen AS, Energy Valley, GCE NODE