Will Floating Turbines Usher in a New Wave of Offshore Wind?

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philip LEijTEN

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Jun 1, 2020 12:30 pm GMT
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A short, crisp article from YaleEnvironment360 last week, pointing at the promising potential from emerging floating wind turbines projects. Three points I find particularly encouraging:

1) The technology provides access to 80% of the world's maritime waters that are too deep for conventional offshore wind turbines and is largely proven: the 5 turbines of HyWind (run by Equinor, offshore Peterhead) have continued producing power in harsh winter storms. So, the long-term running-room for offshore wind looks to expand considerably. Good news for some of the offshore O&G supply chains.

2) After HyWind, Scotland is planning more and bigger floating wind parks. Portugal (and Spain’s) WindFloat Atlantic is under construction (~3 times the capacity of HyWind), the first one in Continental Europe. France has included the technology in its clean energy plans, aspiring to become a world leader.

3) Floating turbines and bird communities further out at sea are more thinly distributed which reduces the collision risk compared to conventional offshore wind arrays. Decommissioning will also be easier since they are not fixed to the seabed.

Commercialisation at scale is predicted to reduce cost (LCOE) from EUR180-200/MWh today to 45-65/MWh by 2030 (source: www.windeurope.org) . In comparison: in Q3 2019 the UK (the biggest offshore wind market in the world) awarded 3 unsubsidised conventional offshore wind projects at EUR 44/MWh.

Will Floating Turbines Usher in a New Wave of Offshore Wind?

As locations for wind energy fill up onshore and near-shore, companies are deploying floating turbines that can be sited in deep waters, out of view from the coast. Proponents contend the new technology could boost the wind industry, but daunting challeng

Source: e360.yale.edu

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Matt Chester on Jun 1, 2020 1:00 pm GMT

Floating turbines and bird communities further out at sea are more thinly distributed which reduces the collision risk compared to conventional offshore wind arrays. Decommissioning will also be easier since they are not fixed to the seabed.

Indeed this would seem to help address some of the concerns regarding bird life and wind power (though I still think a lot of that as a talking point is not a fair or earnest argument being used against wind but rather a convenient excuse for those looking for a reason to push them away), as well as issues of how offshore wind turbines may impact 'sitelines' from the coast since they'll be even less visible.

It will be interesting to see which markets this really takes hold in first and most strongly. Any predictions, Philip?

Charley Rattan on Jun 3, 2020 12:45 pm GMT

The technology is clearly advancing Philip. Strangely, Scotland, with her world leading ambitions, is nearly two nears late with the 'ScotWind' leasing round; An inauspicious start?

Mark Silverstone on Jun 3, 2020 12:55 pm GMT

Further good news is that Equinor (Norwegian state oil company - 67% government owned) is a major investor in offshore wind on both sides of the Atlantic, and assures financing for mega projects.

George Mamulashvili on Jun 5, 2020 7:52 am GMT

Floating Scottish monsters with a capacity of only 6 MW have a height of 253 meters and a total weight of 12,000 tons! Just think about these figures and imagine how to exploit this machine! It is very doubtful that the cost of energy produced by it will decrease from 180-200 euros per MW/hour to 45-65 euros by 2030 because of the amount of metal used, which is constantly becoming more expensive! Hydro Power Tower (HPT) project, which you can see in the picture in my profile, is currently being tested in Russia. According to preliminary calculations, HPT can generate up to 4 MW of power with a tower height of only 7.5 meters and a total weight of 45 tons, and already the cost of energy generated is estimated at about 11-12 euros per MW / hour. Yes, the base of the tower with a spiral collector rests on the bottom or can be suspended from the Pantone. However, this does not mean that its operation will be significantly labor-intensive, since the device is not subject to storms at depth, and in a suspended state it does not cause problems at all to raise it. In addition, the spiral propellers of the turbines, in a closed case, do not have such a strong noise impact on the environment as the huge propellers with a diameter of 154 meters of the schotland wind energy monsters. Therefore, it seems to me very illusory happiness after coronovirus to have such a strong accumulation of noisy steel in the ocean, which will frighten the entire fauna for many kilometers and thus possibly disrupt the habitat of the flora, which will definitely lead to another environmental disaster!

Mark Silverstone on Jun 6, 2020 10:16 am GMT

It is certainly the case that the final word has not been said on the optimum design for wind generators, let alone that of the newest floating offshore wind “monsters”. The question is: What is ready for deployment at the moment? I don´t imagine that the offshore wind turbine design of even 2023 has yet been finalized. So, if what is “currently being tested in Russia“ turns out to be ready for deployment, wind power developers will beat a path to the Russian door, cash in hand.

I do however take serious issue with your suggestions regarding environmental impact. In fairness, you may not be familiar with the rules and practices regarding environmental impact assessment, especially in the North Sea.

«...such a strong accumulation of noisy steel in the ocean, which will frighten the entire fauna for many kilometers and thus possibly disrupt the habitat of the flora, which will definitely lead to another environmental disaster!»

As an example I refer you to the Environmental Impact Assessment that is publicly available for the Hywind project.

http://marine.gov.scot/data/hywind-scotland-pilot-park-environmental-impact-assessment-report

I will not try to summarize the findings of the report. You are welcome to have a look yourself. If you are so worried about the fish you may want to Google: Statoil-Chapter 14 Commercial fisheries - Equinor

Just a few points:

1. The fauna and flora habitats in, above and beneath the North Sea have been studied in great detail for over 50 years with regard to all industries operating there. The processes for evaluation of environmental impact have been developed for all sorts of developments, large and small, on the seabed and floating, tall and short. Offshore activities are managed in order to minimize environmental impact of their presence and associated operations. Though it has not always been so, it is now a mature discipline. The process remains intensive and authoritative both with regard to impacts on the environment itself and on the people who work there.

2. You must not know anything about Scottish fishermen or the North Sea if you think this project would go ahead without their buy-in.

3. Though not without some significant impact from both over-fishing and oil and gas production , the North Sea basin remains a highly managed and viable fishery.

4. The risk of possible impact from even the most ambitious wind power development is quite small, even in a worst case scenario, compared to any oil exploration and production operation. Obviously, there are few chemicals in use, even fewer flammable ones; there is little seabed disturbance; there are people on board only intermittently.

It is highly irresponsible and unworthy of a contributor to Energy Central to make the statements that you do here. If your comment is based on knowledge regarding the process, the data or the conclusions, we are all eager to hear about it.

The environmental work will never be fully complete and potential risks will be continuously updated as techniques are refined and experience is gained. You may want to read about an example of further upcoming work undertaken by Norway, Belgium, Germany and The Netherlands.

https://energycentral.com/news/leiden-university-hans-slabbekoorn-receives-dutch-research-agenda-grant-study-fish-around-wind?utm_medium=PANTHEON_STRIPPED&utm_campaign=PANTHEON_STRIPPED&utm_content=PANTHEON_STRIPPED&utm_source=PANTHEON_STRIPPED

George Mamulashvili on Jun 8, 2020 8:58 am GMT

Laura Briggs, British journalist and ecologist, published the " Ecology Research Report: How noise pollution impacts marine ecology" December 12, 2016 in the online journal Ecologist ( https://theecologist.org/2016/dec/12/ecology-research-report-how-noise-pollution-impacts-marine-ecology ), where she reports about the research by Exeter University's Associate Professor in Marine Biology and Global Change Dr Steve Simpson. He says that over the past 200 years, the marine soundscape has changed a lot due to human activity. An academic scientist writes that the song of a cod in the North sea, with which it calls for a partner, has changed. That is, marine animals that have evolved over millions of years must adapt to survive these changes. ""If you live half your life in the dark, and if you live in murky waters, sound is really important and of course it travels far better under water than through light" says Dr Steve Simpson. Yes, modern technocrats are not particularly concerned about the human population, and even more so about fish.

Gigantomania in the conversion of natural kinetic flows can lead to inappropriate expenditure of funds, that's the question. After all, water is 800 times denser than air, so why go along a path that leads to a dead end? Why indefinitely increase the size of the screw to get more power over the sea, when under it figuratively speaking "ocean" of energy? Is it possible to increase the capacity of marine power plants by developing other, newer and smarter technologies? Well-known research by British scientists about the noise of propellers and the noiselessness of Archimedes ' propellers. Why use the well-proven technology of wind turbines on land now at sea, where the conditions are quite different, including the propagation of noise from vibration? Wouldn't it be better to take advantage of the offers of my, although private company Energy-Ocean-Project LLC to introduce more silent and powerful technologies for converting the energy of currents with the help of a unique Hydro Power Tower? Of course, this is not an academic development of the famous University community, but also SpaceX Crew Dragon Elon Musk is not an academic.
In the end, I would like to say that discussions enliven the topic,and threats are just a factor of not trust. Iuppiter iratus ergo nefas. (Lucian 2nd century. B.C.).

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