Design and analysis of a ten-turbine floating wind farm with shared mooring lines

Abstract

This paper discusses the development and analysis of a novel design for a 10-turbine floating wind farm with shared mooring lines. Shared mooring lines tether adjacent floating platforms together, reducing the number of anchors required but increasing system complexity. We present a systematic, multistage design process for shared mooring systems, involving linearized analysis of array layout options, quasi-static mooring line optimization, and design refinement based on coupled dynamic loads analysis. The design developed from this process is thought to represent one of the most advantageous shared-mooring configurations for this scale of floating wind array. It features perpendicular anchor line pairs and allows shared, multiline anchors, making it an example of a shared-mooring-and-anchor array. Comparing the performance and cost characteristics of the shared-mooring design with more conventional three-line individual mooring systems shows equivalent dynamic response characteristics and stationkeeping system cost savings of 25% when using shared mooring lines and shared anchors. The design is also advantageous in the case of a mooring line failure, with offsets and redundancy characteristics similar to four-line individual mooring systems.