Floating offshore wind turbines

WindWave is a coordinated research project which main goal is to bring together two different marine renewable technologies into one ocean energy converter device. The WindFloat project is focused on studing floating wind marine turbines (FWT), both from the energy efficiency and vibration control point of views, in order to make it feasible and reduce costs.

The key identified challenge of FWTs is its dynamic stability in the presence of non-linear environmental loads. These loads are dynamic in nature and can cause vibration failure in structural components. As a result, structural vibration control of offshore structures under environmental loading presents a host of new critical issues and has become a fundamental aspect of ocean engineering.

In addition, in floating wind turbines the power control problem is still more challenging than in on-land devices because the goal is twofold: to reduce the turbine motion and simultaneously achieving optimal energy efficiency.

Key words:

Control, modelling, renewable energy, wind energy, floating wind turbines, wave energy converter, oscillating water column, vibrations, structural control, tuned mass dampers, inerter.

Reference: RTI2018-094902-B-C21 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER)