Technology Innovation of the Year
Wind Float
In North America, offshore wind represents massive potential, yet little project momentum. The nascent industry may be gaining a foothold in the shallow waters off Europe, but that has yet to translate into the first installed development off the coast of the U.S.
So far, the U.S.-based projects with the deepest roots in the industry are also facing the fiercest objections from coastal residents. Cape Wind on Horseshoe Shoal on Nantucket Sound continues to fight off legal challenges a decade after first proposing America’s first offshore wind farm.
The solution, as many see it, is to push these farms farther out to sea, where the wind is stronger, the resource is more consistent and the objections are more muted. For this to ever happen, the geographic push must coincide with technological gains. Aside from the transmission challenges that come with deep offshore wind, the biggest hangup is how to anchor these mammoth wind turbines without fixed foundations
Seattle-based Principle Power is charting the course into previously inaccessible waters with the deployment of its full-scale 2 MW WindFloat off the coast of Aguçadoura, Portugal. Accoprding to the company, this is the first offshore wind turbine in open Atlantic waters, and the first deployment of a semi-submersible structure supporting a multi-megawatt wind turbine.
The floating structure itself relieves many of the engineering and construction challenges posed by fixed structures assembled at more shallow depths. Because the deep water structure are designed to float, they can essentially be assembled on shore and towed to their final destination, with much less work performed on site.
If floating technology proves to be a cost-effective option, it will undoubtedly open up new markets in the U.S. Right now, offshore wind plans are concentrated along the East Coast, where the wider continental shelf allows for more shallow water options. The West Coast, with its deep offshore waters are large population centers, could have the most to gain with deep offshore wind.