Floating Offshore Wind Shot

While some offshore waters on the eastern seaboard are shallow enough to support the implementation of fixed-bottom turbine arrays, plenty of the country’s other offshore waters are simply too deep to accommodate such structures. To that end, the U.S. government, via its Department of Energy (DOE), is offering the Floating Offshore Wind Shot (https://www.energy.gov/eere/wind/floating-offshore-wind-shot), as a platform for innovation and collaboration to foster technological advances in new turbine technology.

The program, part of the DOE Energy Earthshots Initiative, is designed to help usher in a clean energy future by driving U.S. leadership in floating offshore wind design, development, and manufacturing. According to the website, the effort is helping tackle key remaining technical challenges to reaching U.S. climate goals while creating jobs and economic opportunities for U.S. communities.

Significant work is needed; floating turbines represent an opportunity to harness surface winds from the ocean frontier, but they pose challenges. In terms of engineering, these structures are anchored by deep-water cables at risk for entanglement with sea life and other equipment; in terms of economics, floating turbines are very expensive to design, construct, operate and maintain (https://www.nrel.gov/wind/floating-offshore-array-design.html). Government, private sector, and academic efforts are underway to better understand and collaboratively answer these issues.

Floating Offshore Wind Shot Facts

·       Floating offshore wind could mean thousands of jobs in wind manufacturing, installation, and operations.

·       The Floating Offshore Wind Energy Shot seeks to reduce the cost of floating offshore wind energy by at least 70%, to $45 per megawatt-hour by 2035 for deep sites far from shore.

·       About two-thirds of U.S. offshore wind energy potential exists over waters too deep for today’s fixed-bottom wind turbine foundations secured directly to the sea floor, and instead require floating platforms.

To check out information from a recent Floating Offshore Wind Shot conference, as well as other aspects of the program, visit the website at: https://www.energy.gov/eere/wind/floating-offshore-wind-shot.