Design of a Self-Installing Innovative Floating Platform for Wind Turbine for Deepwater Offshore USA West Coast

Abstract

Abstract Offshore wind farms gain momentum in the Atlantic Ocean with Jacket type of the Structures to support the wind turbines. The shallow water attracts the use of the Jacket structure piled into the seabed. The West Coast Pacific Ocean has deep water where the floating wind farms are recommended. Due to commercial and economic reasons, the offshore wind farm in the West Coast of the U. S. water has yet be initiated though it present important potential future opportunities. This paper addresses an innovative Offshore Wind Support Design with a floating vessel concept that avoids the need of the large crane supported and expensive day rate installation vessel. The specialty of this design is that it has two levels of telescopic configuration one for the floating vessel and the second for the turbine supporting tower. The installation vessel free configuration is the source of large cost reduction. The turbine is feasible to have pre-assembled, preinstalled and pre-commissioned in the controlled harbor facility on the shore before towed into the water. That increases the reliability of the system and reduces the construction time in the offshore. The most attractive result is that the capital cost per MW estimated is below the market price of the already installed and planned wind farms in the East Coast of the U. S.