Floating Wind Energy Advances

A special issue of Wind (ISSN 2674-032X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 April 2024) | Viewed by 15477

Special Issue Editor

Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 816-8580, Japan
Interests: offshore hydrodynamics; wave–structure interaction; offshore floating wind; wave-induced loads; wind-induced loads; seakeeping; mooring analysis; wave energy arrays; numerical modeling
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are delighted to launch this Special Issue on “Floating Wind Energy Advances”!

The decarbonization goal set by the Paris Climate Agreement urges our global society to look for new clean and renewable energies, such as those from wind, wave, tidal, solar, hydrogen, etc. Wind energy has a long history of industrial exploitation. However, given that only 0.25% of installed offshore wind capacity is floating, floating offshore wind is still in its early stages. It is reported that floating wind farms are suited for water depths between 50 and 1000 m. This provides diverse options for floating foundation types but also raises challenges in terms of technical and economic viability.

This Special Issue aims to publish frontier research regarding all subjects in relation to floating wind energy. We aim to provide a rapid processing time regarding reviewing and publishing, disseminate the articles freely for research, teaching, and reference purposes, and achieve an increasing research impact.

We look forward to receiving your contributions on the state of the art as well as perspectives, in the form of research papers, review articles, and short communications, etc.

Dr. Yingyi Liu
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • wind energy resources
  • wind turbine aerodynamics
  • wave hydrodynamic modelling
  • mooring system analysis
  • floating foundation
  • structural and control
  • wind farm assessment

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 2853 KiB  
Article
Modal Analysis of 15 MW Semi-Submersible Floating Wind Turbine: Investigation on the Main Influences in Natural Vibration
by Arthur Harger, Lucas H. S. Carmo, Alfredo Gay Neto, Alexandre N. Simos, Guilherme R. Franzini and Guilherme Henrique Rossi Vieira
Wind 2023, 3(4), 548-566; https://doi.org/10.3390/wind3040031 - 11 Dec 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1952
Abstract
One of the sources of sustainable energy with great, still untapped potential is wind power. One way to harness such potential is to develop technology for offshore use, more specifically at high depths with floating turbines. It is always critical that their structural [...] Read more.
One of the sources of sustainable energy with great, still untapped potential is wind power. One way to harness such potential is to develop technology for offshore use, more specifically at high depths with floating turbines. It is always critical that their structural designs guarantee that their natural frequencies of vibration do not match the frequencies of the most important oscillatory loads to which they will be subjected. This avoids resonance and its excessive undesired oscillatory responses. Based on that, a 3D finite element model of a 15 MW semi-submersible floating offshore wind turbine was developed in the commercial software ANSYS Mechanical ® to study its dynamic behavior and contribute to the in-depth analysis of structural modeling of FOWTs. A tower and floating platform were individually modeled and coupled together. The natural frequencies and modes of vibration of the coupled system and of its components were obtained by modal analysis, not only to verify the resonance, but also to investigate the determinant factors affecting such behaviors, which are not extensively discussed in literature. It was found that there is strong coupling between the components and that the tower affects the system as a result of its stiffness, and the floater as a result of its rotational inertia. The platform’s inertia comes mainly from the ballast and the effects of added mass, which was considered to be a literal increase in mass and was modeled in two manners: first, it was approximately calculated and distributed along the submerged flexible platform members and then as a nodal inertial element with the floater being considered as a rigid body. The second approach allowed an iterative analysis for non-zero frequencies of vibration, which showed that a first approximation with an infinite period is sufficiently accurate. Furthermore, the effects of the mooring lines was studied based on a linear model, which showed that they do not affect the boundary conditions at the bottom of the tower in a significant way. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Floating Wind Energy Advances)
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32 pages, 12862 KiB  
Article
Responses of a Modular Floating Wind TLP of MarsVAWT Supporting a 10 MW Vertical Axis Wind Turbine
by Sung Youn Boo, Steffen Allan Shelley, D. Todd Griffith and Alejandra S. Escalera Mendoza
Wind 2023, 3(4), 513-544; https://doi.org/10.3390/wind3040029 - 6 Nov 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1696
Abstract
Offshore floating wind foundations supporting a large wind turbine require a large yard facility or significant facility upgrades for their fabrication. To overcome the cost increase associated with facility upgrades, an innovative lightweight modular floating foundation is developed. The foundation comprises multiple modules [...] Read more.
Offshore floating wind foundations supporting a large wind turbine require a large yard facility or significant facility upgrades for their fabrication. To overcome the cost increase associated with facility upgrades, an innovative lightweight modular floating foundation is developed. The foundation comprises multiple modules to enable their assembly on water, offering many benefits and expanding fabrication options for a reduction in the overall cost of the platform. In this paper, the foundation modules and their assembly are briefly described, and an analysis of the platform’s dynamic responses is presented. The modular foundation includes a modular and lightweight tension leg platform (TLP) called “MarsVAWT” which supports a Darrieus 10 MW vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT). The platform is moored with highly pretensioned wire rope tendons. The responses of the platform are analyzed in the time domain in a semi-coupled manner under the turbine operating and parked conditions for an offshore site in the US Northeast. The tower base shear forces and bending moments increase considerably with the combination of wind and waves, compared to those with wind only. The tendon tensions on the weatherside in the operating condition at high wind speeds are comparable to the values of the 50-year extreme (parked). The tendon tension increases are highly correlated to the platform pitch, as well as the horizontal and vertical velocities and vertical acceleration at the tendon porch. The modular platform performances and tendon designs are confirmed to comply with industry standards and practices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Floating Wind Energy Advances)
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20 pages, 12875 KiB  
Article
Real-Time Repositioning of Floating Wind Turbines Using Model Predictive Control for Position and Power Regulation
by Timothé Jard and Reda Snaiki
Wind 2023, 3(2), 131-150; https://doi.org/10.3390/wind3020009 - 23 Mar 2023
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2830
Abstract
As offshore wind capacity could grow substantially in the coming years, floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) are particularly expected to make a significant contribution to the anticipated global installed capacity. However, FOWTs are prone to several issues due partly to environmental perturbations and [...] Read more.
As offshore wind capacity could grow substantially in the coming years, floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) are particularly expected to make a significant contribution to the anticipated global installed capacity. However, FOWTs are prone to several issues due partly to environmental perturbations and their system configuration which affect their performances and jeopardize their structural integrity. Therefore, advanced control mechanisms are required to ensure good performance and operation of FOWTs. In this study, a model predictive control (MPC) is proposed to regulate FOWTs’ power, reposition their platforms to reach predefined target positions and ensure their structural stability. An efficient nonlinear state space model is used as the internal MPC predictive model. The control strategy is based on the direct manipulation of the thrust force using three control inputs, namely the yaw angle, the collective blade pitch angle, and the generator torque without the necessity of additional actuators. The proposed controller accounts for the environmental perturbations and satisfies the system constraints to ensure good performance and operation of the FOWTs. A realistic scenario for a 5-MW reference wind turbine, modeled using OpenFAST and Simulink, has been provided to demonstrate the robustness of the proposed MPC controller. Furthermore, the comparison of the MPC model and a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) model to satisfy the three predefined objectives indicates the superior performances of the MPC controller. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Floating Wind Energy Advances)
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36 pages, 3924 KiB  
Article
Optimization of a Lightweight Floating Offshore Wind Turbine with Water Ballast Motion Mitigation Technology
by William Ramsay, Andrew Goupee, Christopher Allen, Anthony Viselli and Richard Kimball
Wind 2022, 2(3), 535-570; https://doi.org/10.3390/wind2030029 - 9 Aug 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2998
Abstract
Floating offshore wind turbines are a promising technology for addressing energy needs by utilizing wind resources offshore. The current state of the art is based on heavy, expensive platforms to survive the ocean environment. Typical design techniques do not involve optimization because of [...] Read more.
Floating offshore wind turbines are a promising technology for addressing energy needs by utilizing wind resources offshore. The current state of the art is based on heavy, expensive platforms to survive the ocean environment. Typical design techniques do not involve optimization because of the computationally expensive time domain solvers used to model motions and loads in the ocean environment. However, this design uses an efficient frequency domain solver with a genetic algorithm to rapidly optimize the design of a novel floating wind turbine concept. The concept utilizes a liquid ballast mass to mitigate motions on a lightweight post-tensioned concrete platform. The simple cruciform-shaped design of the platform made of post-tensioned concrete is less expensive than steel, reducing the raw material and manufacturing cost. The use of ballast water to behave as a tuned mass damper allows a smaller platform to achieve the same motions as a much larger platform, thus reducing the mass and cost. The optimization techniques applied with these design innovations resulted in a design with a levelized cost of energy of USD 0.0753/kWh, roughly half the cost of the current state of the art. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Floating Wind Energy Advances)
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14 pages, 2170 KiB  
Article
Maintenance and End-of-Life Analysis in LCA for Barge-Type Floating Wind Turbine
by Nurullah Yildiz, Hassan Hemida and Charalampos Baniotopoulos
Wind 2022, 2(2), 246-259; https://doi.org/10.3390/wind2020014 - 26 Apr 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3580
Abstract
This paper is aimed at improving the maintenance and end-of-life steps in the associated Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of barge-type floating wind turbines to reduce their environmental impact. Maintenance and end-of-life steps are given special attention since these phases have received only cursory [...] Read more.
This paper is aimed at improving the maintenance and end-of-life steps in the associated Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of barge-type floating wind turbines to reduce their environmental impact. Maintenance and end-of-life steps are given special attention since these phases have received only cursory focus in previous LCA studies. Different maintenance and end-of-life scenarios have been considered in the analysis. From the LCA results, it has been found that by applying on-site and onshore maintenance strategies, the lifetime of the turbine can be extended. Four alternative scenarios for the end-of-life step have been examined: mechanical recycling, mechanical-incineration, incineration processes, and landfill. The environmental impacts of these scenarios are evaluated using the LCA methodology. The investigation showed that the lowest environmental impacts correspond to the onshore maintenance and the mechanical recycling scenarios. These CO2 emissions of these scenarios are 13.68 g CO2 eq/kWh and 0.107 g CO2 eq/kWh, respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Floating Wind Energy Advances)
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