First Iteration Design of the Flotant Concept

Abstract

This paper presents the first iteration design of the Flotant concept developed within the framework of a Cooperation Research Project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. The Flotant concept is a hybrid concrete-plastic barge-type floating offshore substructure holding a 12MW wind turbine with the singularity of getting floatability by using plastic foam material fitted within the floater substructure. The INS12MW generic wind turbine, an upscaling exercise based on the DTU10MW reference wind turbine, is presented and simulated using open-source certified aeroelastic code. The floating platform and the mooring system are designed for two different sites, West of Barra and South East of Gran Canaria island. The principal dimensions are presented along with the hydrostatic and hydrodynamic properties of the floating system. A relevant subset of design load cases derived from International Electrotechnical Commission and Det Norske Veritas standards was simulated using an open-source aeroelastic code (NREL FAST) to check the coupled aero-hydro-elastic behaviour of the floating system and to generate the required load-matrix for the structural assessment of the different components. The evaluation of the design includes the seakeeping performance, the stability of the floating platform and the global performance analysis for the abovementioned sites. It demonstrates the technology developed within the Flotant project is feasible even in rough conditions like the ones in the West of Barra site.