Conceptual design of a novel 10 MW T-Semi floating offshore wind turbine and mooring system for transitional water depths

Abstract

ABSTRACT A novel semi-submersible concept called T-Semi, along with several mooring systems designs, for a 10-MW FOWT is proposed and applied at a water depth of 60 m, to address the challenges of deploying floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) in transitional water depths. Comprehensive analyses were performed to analyze the performance of this innovative concept, including (a) intact and damaged stability; (b) frequency-domain hydrodynamic behaviour of the T-Semi floater; (c) different mooring system design configurations tailored for the T-Semi FOWT. The results demonstrate robust stability characteristics of the T-Semi floater and its favourable motion dynamics in heave and pitch. Additionally, the mooring system well satisfies the requirements of motion natural periods and safefy based on relevant international standards. In terms of the mooring design, the nonlinearity of the horizontal restoring force could be weakened by increasing the clump mass and decreasing the angle between mooring lines in a redundant arrangement.