The programme for the government has committed to installing at least 30GW of floating wind off the Irish Atlantic coast. The offshore wind sector generally assumes that the commercial rollout of floating wind will be a natural extrapolation from fixed offshore wind. However, installing and operating floating wind farms is extremely challenging and a number of issues remain unaddressed. It has been demonstrated that floating platforms can be developed to support 15MW+ turbines, but the viability of floating windfarms in North Atlantic environments, which are among the most extreme in the world, remains unproven. Floating platforms are dynamic and move in response to the environmental forcing conditions, i.e. wind & wave. These platform motions can impact accessibility, working conditions and component lifetimes.

This project focuses on the dynamic nature of floating wind turbines in Atlantic conditions, and the impact that will have on the structural design of the platform, turbine and moorings, as well as the nacelle working conditions for O&M activity. The premise is that the motion of current platform designs deployed in Atlantic sites will limit O&M, impact reliability and increase CAPEX. The project will determine the criteria that platforms will need to achieve in order to operate reliability and achieve 90+% availability. In addition to addressing fundamental questions related to floating platform requirements, AtlanticFloat will also contribute to the development of an innovative floating platform and a novel mooring system that reduces platform loadings and motions as well as the footprint of the floating wind turbine.

The project includes a programme of engineering design, numerical modelling and wave tank testing of Floating Offshore Wind technologies. It will determine the readiness of Floating Offshore Wind for Ireland’s Atlantic waters, in terms of the limiting criteria for platform motion with respect to the structural and mooring design, as well as the human factors associated with working onboard.