North American Windpower: MIT, NREL Study Floating Turbine

by NAW Staff on Wednesday 13 September 2006

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) researchers have been studying a new way to implement offshore wind turbines - by floating them on platforms a hundred miles out to sea where wind gusts are strong and the turbines would be out of sight.

Today's offshore wind turbines usually stand on towers driven into the ocean floor but work only in water depths of about 15 meters or less. Paul D. Sclavounos, a professor of mechanical engineering and naval architecture who has spent decades designing and analyzing large floating structures for deep-sea oil and gas exploration, along with MIT colleagues and NREL's team, has developed an alternative. Their design calls for a tension leg platform (TLP), a system in which long steel cables, or "tethers," connect the corners of the platform to a concrete-block or other mooring system on the ocean floor. The platform and turbine are thus supported not by an expensive tower but by buoyancy.

According to their analyses, MIT says the floater-mounted turbines could work in water depths ranging from 30 to 200 meters. In the Northeast, for example, they could be 50 to 150 kilometers from shore. Encouraged by positive responses from wind, electric power and oil companies, Sclavounos hopes to install a half-scale prototype south of Cape Cod.

Don't miss the latest wind energy news -- register to receive NAW's news headlines.

Latest Top Stories

As U.S. DOJ Investigates, Duke Works Adaptive Management Plan

With previous golden eagle fatalities reported at two company-owned wind farms in Wyoming, Duke Energy Renewables is going to great lengths to protect raptors.

DOE To Recast Landmark 20% Wind Energy Report; Study Looks Back, Ahead

The U.S. Department of Energy will update its 20% Wind Energy By 2030 report, which indicated increased levels of wind penetration for the U.S. is not only possible but feasible.

Wind Energy Procurement Top Of Mind For Big-Name Companies

With greater frequency, top-tier companies are discovering the economic and environmental power of wind energy and upping their investments in the resource.

WINDPOWER Panelists Issue A Call To Arms: Protect RPS Mandates

Votes on several legislative bills concerning state renewable portfolio standards (RPS) are nearing. How can you help protect and maintain these development drivers?

Wind Industry Still Awaits First Eagle-Take Permit Under BGEPA

The first wind developer to apply for a take permit under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act has withdrawn its application.