PROF PROVES FLOATING WIND WORKS

Study shows stability and utility of floating wind turbines
June 29, 2010 (PhysOrg)

"Wind turbines may be one of the best renewable energy solutions, but as turbines get larger they…require increasingly larger expanses of land. One solution: ocean-based wind turbines…[O]ffshore turbines already have been constructed…in shallow waters, where the tower extends directly into the seabed. That restricts the turbines to near-shore waters with depths no greater than 50 meters…[I]n deeper waters…winds generally gust at higher speeds.

The floating turbine concept tested and lab-proven. (click to enlarge)

"An alternative is placing turbines on floating platforms, says naval architect Dominique Roddier of Berkeley, California-based Marine Innovation & Technology...By testing a 1:65 scale model in a wave tank, the researchers show that the three-legged floating platform, which is based on existing gas and oil offshore platform designs, is stable enough to support a 5-megawatt wind turbine, the largest turbine that currently exists. These mammoth turbines are 70 meters tall…have rotors the size of a football field [and produce enough power for 1200 U.S. homes]…

How the floating turbine concept works. (click to enlarge)

"The next step, says Roddier, is building a prototype to understand the life-cycle cost of such projects and to refine the economics models. The prototype, which is being built in collaboration with electricity operator Energias de Portugal…[should be ready for testing] by the end of summer 2012…"