PFI-TT: Cost-Effective Anchor for Offshore, Floating, Energy-harvesting Wind Towers

Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, College Station TX

Investigators

Abstract

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is the reduction of capital costs for floating, offshore, wind power development. An estimated 60% of offshore wind occurs in deep waters requiring floating units. The proposed technology is adaptable to any type of mooring system for floating structures. This adaptability provides a high degree of flexibility in system design to accommodate environmental constraints and competing ocean uses such as commercial fisheries. The high efficiency and compact design is intended to minimize material requirements (and therefore supply chain issues) and reduce the required number and size of transport and installation vessels, which are critical constraints affecting offshore wind power development. The technology is designed to be installed into the seabed using methods which minimize impacts (e.g. noise) on marine life. This research will also provide training to a postdoctoral student on innovation, intellectual property protection, and commercialization of research products. The proposed project will focus on the commercialization of a new anchor design for floating offshore wind turbines. A key feature of the anchor is its high efficiency, which permits a compact size that is still capable of resisting the load demand from 15 MW or larger wind turbines. The anchor is installable in virtually any soil profile and can provide a high vertical load demand, overcoming major limitations of most existing anchors. As the load capacity does not depend on transient suction, the anchor capacity does not diminish under sustained loading. The circular symmetry permits use in a shared anchor system when site conditions permit. The anchor can be deployed in catenary, taut, and tension-leg systems, maximizing the flexibility of mooring system designers to accommodate environmental constraints. A key task in this research will be reduced scale model tests simulating the insertion and pullout of the anchor, so installation disturbance effects can be assessed. This project also seeks to refine the structural design of the anchor and the installation follower system with a view toward minimizing fatigue damage. This research may produce an anchor and follower system design fully ready for field-scale pilot tests. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.