The floating future of wind turbines

The European Commission has commissioned a €3m project, which looks to revolutionise the offshore wind energy industry. The DeepWind project aims to create and put into practice ‘floating’ wind turbines. The project is a collaboration between science and industry and supports the EU’s drive to lead the way in green technology.

Currently offshore energy is twice as expensive as onshore; the DeepWind project will look to produce 20 MW from each floating turbine. The turbines will be placed in seas with depths exceeding 30-60 metres, where it is simply too expensive to build foundations for standing turbines.

The flexibility on location will mean that offshore wind turbine plants can be placed near cities with a deep-water coastline ie. in Europe, Asia and North America. “The technology behind the proposed concept gives significant challenges and requires technological breakthroughs. We need explicit research in a wide area of different technology fields and materials” explains Project Manager Uwe Schmidt Paulsen.

The project is coordinated from Risø DTU, where it is planned to have the first demonstration of a kW-sized wind turbine in nearby Roskilde Fjord. “DeepWind is a challenging and sound project. This project goes beyond a technology transfer from onshore vertical wind turbine generation and constitutes a radical upgrade of existing technologies and would constitute a real breakthrough in the energy sector”, said Risø DTU Director Henrik Bindslev.

Published: Wednesday, 10th November 2010 by Adelle Kehoe