U.S.Government Announces $28 Million for Offshore Wind Energy Research

ATLANTIS stands for Aerodynamic Turbines, Lighter and Afloat, with Nautical Technologies and Integrated Servo-control and is part of a new Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) program which will develop new technologies for floating offshore wind turbines.

“The United States has 13,000 miles of shoreline, which is a huge opportunity to lead the world in capitalizing offshore wind,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry. “The ATLANTIS projects will help advance American offshore wind production and the accompanying job, manufacturing, and investment growth for the nation.”

Control co-design methodologies bring together diverse engineering disciplines to work concurrently while designing a device, instead of in sequential steps. The CCD approach enables project teams to develop new ways to build FOWTs that would not be possible using a traditional design approach. To be successful, ATLANTIS projects will require design approaches that maximize power to weight ratios while maintaining or increasing turbine efficiency.