French outfit designs floater for massive 12 MW mega-turbine

French outfit designs floater for massive 12 MW mega-turbineMon 19 Mar 2018 by David Foxwe

Dietswell in France has developed a version of its Trussfloat floating foundation that could accommodate the 12 MW turbine recently announced by GE Renewable Energy.

First revealed by OWJ in September 2018, commercialisation of Dietswell’s Trussfloat semi-submersible floating foundation is progressing rapidly. Last year the company announced the award of €2.8M (US$3.4M) from ADEME as part of the EOLFLOAT project for the detailed design of the Trussfloat.

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Development of a semi-submersible floater for large offshore wind turbines is part of the Investissement d’Avenir programme led by the Commissariat Général à l’Investissement of the French government.

Dietswell is leading a consortium of French companies, including Matiere for construction engineering and Oceanide, which is responsible for testing.

Dietswell has been progressing the commercialisation of the Trussfloat and has developed a version capable of hosting a 12 MW wind turbine.

Earlier this month, GE Renewable Energy announced that it was developing the 12 MW Haliade-X.A Trussfloat design equipped with a 6 MW turbine has been validated with coupled simulations against typical site conditions, considering the aerodynamic loading on the wind turbine and the hydrodynamics loads on the foundation.

Dietswell is also adapting the Trussfloat for harsh environment (winds, swell, tide) in the Atlantic. “With this ‘tough version’ of the Trussfloat the floater fits with all kinds of conditions around the world,” said the company. SOURCE: OWJ