Offshore standard for floating wind turbine structures

An international joint venture is looking to develop a common design standard in order to support faster progress in the offshore floating wind industry.

According to risk manager DNV, it has initiated a join industry project with the aim of developing a common global standard covering all aspects of the design process due to an expected growth in offshore floating wind turbines.

The conclusions from this joint industry project will provide best practices on principles and technical requirements and guidance for design, construction and in-service inspection work.

While the offshore floating wind industry is still in its infancy, there is a significant potential in the vast deep-water areas around the world, DNV states. The bottom-fixed offshore wind industry is already booming but the deep waters around Japan, China, Southern Europe and the US remains huge untapped resources for offshore floating wind energy.

“However, floating wind turbines introduce new risks and technological challenges related to stability, station keeping, power transmission and structural strength,” DNV business development leader for wind, Johan Sandberg said.

“In addition, economic aspects are likely to be challenging in the early phases. One barrier to the growth and development of this industry has been the lack of a design standard,” Mr Sandberg said.

“Having developed standards for the maritime and energy industries for decades, DNV has experienced that co-operation to create unified rules results in faster industrial progress,” he said. The development work will be carried out in a joint industry project where best practices are shared among the various players in the value chain.

“The result is a common framework which supports the fast-moving development of specific technology and business and which is especially valuable to emerging industries.”

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