Transforming offshore wind with a pivoting turbine

The new floating design is both cost-effective and highly efficient

Spotted: According to the World Bank, the total global technical potential of offshore wind is estimated at around 71 terawatts. Around 70 per cent of this potential is located in deep waters suited to floating wind turbines. The challenge is to create floating turbines suitable for deep water that can be easily installed and maintained.

X1 Wind is working on meeting this challenge with a lightweight floating turbine designed especially for operation downwind. The platform uses an innovative single point mooring (SPM) system, called the PivotBuoy, that allows the platform to passively orient itself.

Because the turbines are designed to be used downwind, they do not need the adjustments of upwind systems such as tilt angles, rotor coning, or the use of pre-bent blades to avoid tower strike, which reduces the manufacturing costs. The vertical mooring system allows the turbines to be deployed cost-effectively at depths from 60 to more than 500 metres.

The system is designed to allow a quick connection and disconnection of the platform. This means the platform can be assembled onshore and then towed to the site using small or medium vessels instead of heavy-lift vessels, which simplifies offshore operations and reduces installation costs.

X1 Wind company is currently involved in the NextFloat+Platform, which will deploy a prototype six-megawatt floating wind platform in the Mediterranean Sea. With support from the European Commission’s Innovation Fund, the pan-European project aims to accelerate the rollout of the next generation of floating wind technology by boosting competitiveness and scalability.

Written By: Lisa Magloff