Enventi to investigate cost benefits of ‘floating wind’ technology

Engineering and consultancy firm Enventi said it had gathered a range of industry professionals within the offshore wind industry to carry out a comprehensive study to reveal how 'floating wind' technologies are cost effective as well as technically sound. The study is being launched in response to the Government’s target to slash the cost of offshore wind from £175 megawatt hour (MWh) down to £100/MWh by 2020. It follows the launch last week by the Energy Technologies Institute of a £25 million demonstration project to look at how floating structures for offshore wind turbines could bring down the cost of offshore wind.

"[…] A floating solution offers huge potential in cost reduction and we have therefore launched this detailed study with the aim of conceptually validating a generic floating solution both technically and economically," Paul Lavelle, Enventi’s Technical director said.

Reason for study
In July 2011, the Government released details of the Electricity Market Reform (EMR), outlining various aims in how the UK’s electricity system can be improved. The EMR specifically drew attention to how offshore wind technology will have a major role to play in the UK’s future energy policies. It proposed a large-scale deployment of offshore wind, which will target 18 gigawatts of installed capacity, providing that the cost of energy can be to a value of £100/MWh. This month, the Government announced details of the Cost Reduction Task Force, which aims to achieve this reduction in offshore wind costs by 2020.

Higher wind speeds
Current offshore wind technology designs, where the turbine sits on a pylon that is fixed to the seabed, can only reach 60 metres deep, which leaves significant untapped wind resources around Britain’s coasts where, although still near-to-shore, the seabed is too deep for conventional wind turbines. Floating wind structures could be in deeper water near-to-shore, where higher wind speeds can be accessed, thereby bringing down the cost of electricity generation, according to the ETI.

The ETI demonstration project will see the design, construction and installation of a floating system at a near shore site where wind speeds will reach up to about 10 metres per second in water between 60 and 100 metres deep.

Initial results from the Enventi study are expected within four to six weeks.