GDG secures IEA task to advance floating offshore wind

GDG is one of three Operating Agents, where they are working in close collaboration with USA National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) and IFP Energies Nouvelles to deliver this ambitious project which aims to accelerate the sustainable commercialization of floating wind arrays. This will be achieved through a multidisciplinary approach seeking to maximize the technical, social, economic and environmental benefit of large-scale deployments, GDG says.

Considerations including the mooring, anchor, and cabling design; array layout optimization; installation and operational logistics; environmental and marine spatial planning impact; and failure modes and analysis for utility scale floating wind projects. This project is confined to considerations that affect floating wind technology at the array scale, and consists of the following four research pillars:

• Curating a set of site conditions representative of the global floating wind deployment pipeline.
• Developing reference array designs for typical site conditions and technology types.
• Cataloguing array-level failure risks and mitigation strategies.
• Identifying critical innovation opportunities and marine spatial planning requirements that will affect floating wind array design and deployment.

This Task supports the strategic goals of the IEA Wind TCP to:

• Lower the cost of land-based and offshore wind energy by providing design tools and reference materials to the research community which can be used to evaluate the cost reduction potential of novel technical or process innovations.
• Facilitate wind energy deployment through social support and environmental compatibility by linking key marine spatial planning factors facing floating wind deployment with engineering designs.
• Foster collaborative research and the exchange of best practices and data by leveraging a range of international participants and projects to develop open-source tools, data sets, and publications.

The Task is primarily focused on the Resource and Site Characterization and Advanced Technology Priority Areas, but also addresses Social, Environmental and Economic Impacts as well as Communication, Education, and Engagement.

Paul Doherty, Managing Director noted that “This is an exciting initiative which will allow GDG to help advance the industry and address critical gaps that will help drive down the costs of floating wind technology.”