Researchers at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) have designed and patented a floating platform for offshore wind turbines that can reduce energy costs to 12 euro cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) through a more efficient design and cheaper building materials.
Researchers Climent Molins and Alexis Campos, of the UPC’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, have developed a model of a floating structure for offshore wind turbines anchored at great sea depths that makes them competitive through cost savings in construction and maintenance.
The prototype, WindCrete, is a cylindrical structure with a large float and a ballast base that makes it self-stabilising. According to the researchers, who belong to the Barcelona School of Civil Engineering, the main innovations of this model compared to similar ones on the market are the seamless, monolithic structure and the use of concrete for its construction.
By using concrete instead of the more expensive steel that has been used previously, the construction cost is reduced by 60%. In addition, concrete is more resistant in the marine environment, so the structure has fewer maintenance requirements and a life of about 50 years. The absence of joints in the platform increases its durability against the effects of wind and sea and avoids the damage that normally appears in transition areas.
The WindCrete includes a 5-megawatt (MW) wind turbine that can carry rotors of up to 15 MW with a minimum increase in the cost, making it far more economical. The new system reduces the cost of wind energy to 12 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh). This is half the price per kWh of this type of energy (about 24 cents) in the Canary Islands, one of the regions where wind power is to be promoted.
Given the long useful life of this prototype, the possibility of replacing the turbine with a more powerful and more profitable one has been considered.
Partially submerged offshore platforms of this type require a minimum depth: 90 m in the case of WindCrete. However, there is no technical maximum depth at which they can be installed. In the Gulf of Mexico, for example, there are oil platforms of this type anchored at depths of up to 2300 m.
European project
The prototype was developed within the framework of the European project Alternative floating offshore substructure for offshore wind farms(AFOSP) , which is carried out in the framework of KIC-InnoEnergy in collaboration with Stuttgart Wind Energy at the University of Stuttgart and Gas Natural Fenosa. A preliminary design was carried out to ensure technical and economic feasibility.
In order to check the behaviour of the platform and its anchoring system in an environment that simulates the sea, trials were also carried out in the wave flume of the UPC’s Maritime Engineering Laboratory (LIM), using a WindCrete prototype with a scale of 1:100.
Read more: Design and patenting of a low-cost offshore wind turbine
The Latest on: Low-cost offshore wind turbine
via Google News
The Latest on: Low-cost offshore wind turbine
- High-tech company boosts offshore wind power off Italian coastlineon June 27, 2022 at 7:25 pm
GUANGZHOU-Standing off the Taranto Port in southern Italy is the Beleolico wind farm, with 10 turbines ... low wind speed solution considering the Mediterranean climate situation, which greatly ...
- China: Shanghai Electric's New Offshore Wind Turbine Rolls Off Production Lineon June 24, 2022 at 7:38 am
Shanghai Electric Wind Power Group Co., Ltd. said Friday its first EW8.X-230 offshore wind turbine generator had recently ...
- Shanghai Electric's Offshore Wind Turbine Generator Designed for China's Climate Rolls off Production Lineon June 24, 2022 at 6:56 am
Shanghai Electric Wind Power Group Co., Ltd.' s (Shanghai Electric) first EW8.X-230 wind turbine generator rolled off the production line at the Putian manufacturing ...
- Simply Blue Group Developing 1.3 GW Olympic Offshore Wind Projecton June 23, 2022 at 6:56 am
Simply Blue Group has committed to its second offshore wind project for Northern Ireland. The Olympic Offshore Wind project is a sister project to Nomadic Offshore Wind, which was announced by the ...
- Offshore wind industry told how consenting work and supply chain growth will aid accelerationon June 22, 2022 at 7:02 am
Energy Minister Greg Hands has told the offshore wind industry that the Government is working closely with the sector to accelerate deployment. Speaking at RenewableUK’s annual Global Offshore Wind ...
- RWE, ArcelorMittal Collaborate on Offshore Wind Farms, Steel Productionon June 22, 2022 at 5:01 am
RWE and steel producer ArcelorMittal have signed a memorandum of understanding to work together to develop, build and operate offshore wind farms and hydrogen facilities that will supply the renewable ...
- Simply Blue lines up offshore wind project for Co Down coaston June 21, 2022 at 6:00 pm
CORK-based energy company Simply Blue has announced its second offshore wind project in the north. Just two months after unveiling the Nomadic Offshore Wind project off the north coast, the company ...
- The hidden innovation helping to power offshore energyon June 21, 2022 at 7:58 am
The development of offshore wind power is booming. Last year the wind industry installed more than 6GW of new capacity, despite the pandemic. As we see this rapid rise continue, its vital the ...
- GM Sinks $10M into Floating Offshore Wind Ventureon June 20, 2022 at 7:39 am
General Motors Ventures invested $10 million in new technology to capture energy from wind turbines floating off-shore produced by Wind Catching Systems AS. The new deal is just another in a line of ...
- Vattenfall offshore wind farm will use recyclable wind turbine bladeson June 16, 2022 at 9:28 pm
By Vattenfall Press OfficeThe Hollandse Kust Zuid offshore wind farm in the Netherlands will use a new type of wind turbine blades that can be recycled. The blades are made with a new . . .
via Bing News