The world’s most efficient offshore wind farm currently floats far beyond the typical range of most farms. Located 15 miles off the coast of Aberdeenshire, Hywind Scotland has achieved a capacity factor of 54 percent across its five years of operating, surpassing previous estimates for farms by three percent.
Hywind Scotland’s achievement is a herald of sorts for the subsector. Floating wind is a nascent space, dwarfed by the capacity of larger wind farms anchored much closer to shore. Of offshore wind’s total global capacity, floating only accounts for .01 percent.
But the momentum may finally be shifting for floating wind, just as traditional offshore wind came into commercial viability some twenty years ago.
It’s a shift that is arguably inevitable. Floating wind is the natural and logical next step for the sector. Most turbines can only be built on fixed-bottom foundations in depths of up to 60 metres. Much of the planet’s seas are several times deeper. More importantly, the strongest winds are found most consistently in areas beyond the reach of traditional turbines.
With windows for climate goals growing narrower by the year, it’s a race to bring fledgling subsector to speed. The next decade for floating wind will bring about exciting developments in turbine technology and vessel design, driven by countries who need to venture further in scale and capacity.
Big Advances In Floating Wind Technology
Offshore wind sites are located in challenging environments. Found further from shore, floating wind farms will face even more extreme elements. Turbines must be able to weather monstrous waves and hurricanes, which arise from the tempests of the open sea.
Manufacturers are already hard at work to engineer the floating turbines of tomorrow. At present, there are more than 40 concepts in development. Many of them deviate wildly from the design of traditional machines.
American Offshore Energy’s vertical-axis turbine resembles a sailboat more than anything, and is the first of its kind to eliminate the central shaft and gearbox–parts that give turbines their recognisable shape.
By shedding these components, American Offshore Energy’s machine–named the “American Turbine”–significantly reduces the amount of steel needed to manufacture it. Using a homegrown design also eliminates the need to order parts from European manufacturers, further cleaving the cost to make the American Turbine.
The Windcatcher, a 126-turbine structure from Norwegian startup Wind Catching Systems, aims to address issues by increasing the power that can be generated per square kilometre. Fully realised, just five Windcatchers will have the capacity of twenty five traditional floating turbines. Testing of the turbines starts this year, with the company planning a pilot project with smaller versions of the Windcatcher afterwards to prove the concept.
Other developers are creating hybrids, combining technologies in pursuit of a lower levelised cost of electricity. Asset management firm Windsy is working with Welsh company Marine Power Systems to bring a floating wind and wave platform to the commercial market.
Rise Of The Fleet For Floating Wind
Offshore wind’s explosive growth this decade has quickened the demand for installation vessels. The market is set to more than double in value by 2027, according to Fairfield Market Research.
Floating wind will further drive that need, as well as force ship makers to innovate. Floating wind turbines use significantly longer and heavier chains for installation, and all but the largest of vessels today can ferry these lengths. Longer transport times also means ships will have to be able to carry more to keep costs down.
Concepts for ships are already beginning to take shape. The Damen-Flow SV is engineered for increasing efficiency. The massive ship, which is the brainchild of Dutch company Damen Shipyards, will be able to transport materials needed to moor three floating turbines.
Huisman’s Windfarm Installation Vessel (WIV) reduces onshore costs by moving the assembly process on deck. With vessels travelling longer and longer distances, WIVs allow for faster deployment and lower spend on marshalling ports.
Markets To Seize Floating Advantage
A handful of countries are positioned to take the lead on floating wind. Amongst those at the forefront are Japan, China, France, and the United Kingdom.
Japan’s offshore wind ambitions is handicapped by geographical challenges. Unlike the UK with its large areas of shallow seabed, Japan is surrounded by steep and sloping seafloors, limiting capacity for fixed-bottom installations.
Floating wind eliminates that restriction. The nation has the opportunity to unlock 424 GW of energy from floating wind, according to research from the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC). “Japan can be the largest floating market in the world,” predicts Clement Helbig de Balzac, chief development officer at Copenhagen Offshore Partners.
Floating wind also opens new possibilities for neighbouring China. The country is surrounded by a complex and diverse seabed, its composition ranging from rocky to soft clay. The variety complicates installation, driving up costs and slowing growth. China’s rapid expansion into offshore wind also means that space is running out, fast.
China’s already looking to lead the way in floating wind, staking firsts further offshore. The country is building what will be the world’s largest floating wind installation off the coast of Hainan, where typhoons frequently roll in from the South China Sea. Once completed, the site will have a capacity five times that of Norway’s Hywind Tampen.
Back in Europe, billions of euros and large swaths of ocean are being leased to offshore floating projects. France currently leads the region in terms of projects, having been the first to commission large scale floating projects.
The country is relatively new to commercial offshore wind–it delivered its first KWh to the national grid only in 2018. But it’s hoping to clamber to the top on the back of floating wind. “With its deep waters and industrial heritage, the Mediterranean is fantastically placed to benefit from floating wind technology, creating significant job and investment opportunities”, says Jonathan Cole, CEO of wind developer Corio Generation.
In the UK, governments are looking to use the nation’s position as market leader to accelerate floating wind. Scotland has tendered leases that would have the majority of its capacity coming from floating wind. Estimates predict floating projects should account for 15GW. At present, the UK has a total of 13GW in installed capacity.
Like any fledgling sector, multiple challenges lie ahead of floating wind. The cost of manufacturing and installation are currently still too high for the technology to be commercially viable. Yet solutions are already underway. The next decade for floating wind will be one of trials and tests, but also of rapid innovation from the best minds in the industry.
