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The next frontier in renewables: floating wind turbines
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Offshore wind turbines have become a common sight in parts of the world, even though the sector has had a difficult few years because of rising costs and opposition from Donald Trump’s administration.
But the turbines are fixed to the seabed in relatively shallow waters, and some developers are now exploring floating turbines, drawing on technology developed for oil and gas rigs.
This would allow turbines to be deployed to more areas, but it remains a challenging proposition because of the high costs involved. If wind power is going to expand, though, it will have to keep moving into deeper waters.
How does it work?
Much of the world’s offshore wind potential lies in waters that are too deep for fixed-bottom wind turbine foundations to be secured to the sea floor.
Floating turbines address that problem by mounting the turbines to a floating platform or foundation which is anchored to the seabed with mooring lines.
The turbines and their platforms need to be able to withstand the weather at sea for many years.
What are the pros and cons?
“The shift towards floating is driven more by long-term necessity than by any inherent near-term economic advantage,” says Cosimo Ries, an energy analyst with consultancy Trivium China.
Deeper waters hold the majority of the world’s offshore wind resources, he says. “Meaning floating wind could become a major driver of clean power once [overall] costs fall to sufficiently low levels,” he says.
There are several obstacles, the first being that floating offshore wind is very expensive. Even in China — the cheapest place to build a floating offshore wind project — costs are two-to-four times more expensive than fixed-bottom projects, according to Ries.
Projects up to 200km offshore and even further drive up costs for cabling and servicing and the platforms themselves are costly to build. Finally, the weather offshore can make installation difficult and prone to delays.
Will it save the planet?
In many parts of the world, power-hungry coastal cities are hemmed in by mountains and oceans, with little land left for solar and onshore wind. In those places where coastlines drop steeply, fixed wind turbines are not an option.
“It could be a way to align climate ambition, economic development and long-term resilience — but only if deployment can scale up quickly,” says Amisha Patel, executive director of the Copenhagen-based Global Offshore Wind Alliance.
“Floating offshore wind can also be built further from shore, which helps mitigate viewshed and avian species concerns,” adds Abby L Watson, co-founder and president of the Groundwire Group, a Philadelphia-based strategy consulting firm.
“Wind farms are able to be built on larger scales than most other renewable energy resources, and at a time of surging demand, large new resource additions are crucial,” she says.
Has it arrived yet?
While floating offshore wind accounts for less than 1 per cent of the 91GW of global offshore wind capacity, it makes up 22 per cent of the future offshore wind pipeline, at nearly 200GW of floating capacity announced, according to Janna Smith, project manager in charge of tracking global wind power at the San Francisco-based non-profit Global Energy Monitor.
Overall, China has the largest capacity under construction, although Europe and the UK are leading in both operating and prospective development of floating technology, she says.
Who are the potential winners?
Companies already investing in the technology and leaders in the market, such as China’s Ming Yang, a global renewable energy company, stand to benefit from the growing pipeline.
“If its gambit pays off and floating offshore wind development exceeds expectations, Ming Yang could gain a key competitive edge over rivals without proven, comparable offerings,” says Ries.
Who is investing in it?
A number of industries are investing in floating wind turbines. Renewable energy companies and investors, such as Danish offshore energy company Ørsted and infrastructure investment firm Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, are taking stakes in floating wind projects. Construction and engineering companies, including Chinese state-owned engineering enterprise PowerChina and industrial conglomerate CSSC, as well as power utilities, are also investing in infrastructure. Finally, wind turbine manufacturers and oil and gas companies are also backing some of these projects.