IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i4p1663-d1340620.html

A Novel Semi-Spar Floating Wind Turbine Platform Applied for Intermediate Water Depth

Author

Listed:
  • Qingqing Cai

    (Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518055, China)

  • Daoyi Chen

    (Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518055, China)

  • Ni Yang

    (China Power Engineering Consulting Group Corporation Limited, Beijing 100120, China)

  • Wei Li

    (Powerchina Huadong Engineering Corporation Limited, Hangzhou 311122, China)

Abstract

For the exploitation of offshore wind resources in areas with intermediate water depths, a novel semi-spar floating foundation is introduced to combine the superiority of the conventional semisubmersible and spar-type floater. It consists of an upper floater and a hanging weight, which are connected through 12 suspension ropes. Such a floating foundation can be wet-towed as a semisubmersible floater, which features a large waterplane moment of inertia to increase stability and reduce transportation costs. After being anchored on site, it behaves as a spar floater with moderate draft and superior hydrodynamic characteristics. The stability of the proposed semi-spar platform during wet towage is analyzed. Afterward, a fully coupled aero-hydro-servo-elastic simulation is conducted to evaluate its hydrodynamic responses in comparison with the responses of the well-acknowledged OC3-spar and OC4-semisubmersible platforms. Then, the ultimate strength of the mooring lines and suspension ropes under extreme conditions was numerically investigated, as well as the relationship between the ropes’ tension and wave direction. Eventually, a cost-effectiveness analysis is conducted in terms of power generation and steel mass. The results demonstrate that the proposed semi-spar design meets the safety criteria in transportation and exhibits a smaller response in surge and pitch motions. In addition, the ultimate strength of mooring lines and suspension ropes satisfies the safety requirements, and simulation reveals that the lateral suspension ropes parallel to the propagation direction are sensitive to the environmental conditions of winds and waves. This study confirms that the newly proposed floating wind turbine exhibits excellent hydrodynamic and power generation performance, which is of great significance for the sustainability of the energy and electricity industry.

Suggested Citation

  • Qingqing Cai & Daoyi Chen & Ni Yang & Wei Li, 2024. "A Novel Semi-Spar Floating Wind Turbine Platform Applied for Intermediate Water Depth," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-24, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:4:p:1663-:d:1340620
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/4/1663/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/4/1663/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wan, Ling & Gao, Zhen & Moan, Torgeir & Lugni, Claudio, 2016. "Experimental and numerical comparisons of hydrodynamic responses for a combined wind and wave energy converter concept under operational conditions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 87-100.
    2. Bahaj, A.S & Myers, L.E, 2003. "Fundamentals applicable to the utilisation of marine current turbines for energy production," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 28(14), pages 2205-2211.
    3. Cao, Qun & Xiao, Longfei & Guo, Xiaoxian & Liu, Mingyue, 2020. "Second-order responses of a conceptual semi-submersible 10 MW wind turbine using full quadratic transfer functions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 653-668.
    4. Michael Borg & Morten Walkusch Jensen & Scott Urquhart & Morten Thøtt Andersen & Jonas Bjerg Thomsen & Henrik Stiesdal, 2020. "Technical Definition of the TetraSpar Demonstrator Floating Wind Turbine Foundation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-11, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wan, Ling & Moan, Torgeir & Gao, Zhen & Shi, Wei, 2024. "A review on the technical development of combined wind and wave energy conversion systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 294(C).
    2. Zeng, Xinmeng & Shao, Yanlin & Feng, Xingya & Xu, Kun & Jin, Ruijia & Li, Huajun, 2024. "Nonlinear hydrodynamics of floating offshore wind turbines: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    3. Liu, Hong-wei & Ma, Shun & Li, Wei & Gu, Hai-gang & Lin, Yong-gang & Sun, Xiao-jing, 2011. "A review on the development of tidal current energy in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 1141-1146, February.
    4. Fan, YaJun & Mu, AnLe & Ma, Tao, 2016. "Modeling and control of a hybrid wind-tidal turbine with hydraulic accumulator," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 188-199.
    5. Wilberforce, Tabbi & El Hassan, Zaki & Durrant, A. & Thompson, J. & Soudan, Bassel & Olabi, A.G., 2019. "Overview of ocean power technology," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 165-181.
    6. Cheng, Zhengshun & Wen, Ting Rui & Ong, Muk Chen & Wang, Kai, 2019. "Power performance and dynamic responses of a combined floating vertical axis wind turbine and wave energy converter concept," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 190-204.
    7. Jonas Bjerg Thomsen & Roger Bergua & Jason Jonkman & Amy Robertson & Nicole Mendoza & Cameron Brown & Christos Galinos & Henrik Stiesdal, 2021. "Modeling the TetraSpar Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Foundation as a Flexible Structure in OrcaFlex and OpenFAST," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-14, November.
    8. Wang, Jiazhi & Song, Zhaobo & Shi, Wei & Wang, Shuaishuai & Wang, Wenhua & Haider, Rizwan & Li, Xin, 2025. "Design and coupled analysis of a novel floating offshore wind turbine combined with a fish cage for deep water," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).
    9. Artal, Osvaldo & Pizarro, Oscar & Sepúlveda, Héctor H., 2019. "The impact of spring-neap tidal-stream cycles in tidal energy assessments in the Chilean Inland Sea," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 496-506.
    10. Jin, Yeqing & Chen, Zichuan & Ren, Guangyan & Zhang, Tianhao & Zhang, Jianbo & Zou, Guoqiang, 2025. "Hydrodynamic performance of a multi-float pendulum wave energy converter coupled with a monopile wind turbine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 341(C).
    11. Chen, Long & Lam, Wei-Haur, 2015. "A review of survivability and remedial actions of tidal current turbines," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 891-900.
    12. Xiao, Shaohui & Lin, Kun & Liu, Hongjun & Zhou, Annan, 2021. "Performance analysis of monopile-supported wind turbines subjected to wind and operation loads," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 842-858.
    13. Li, Binbin & Wang, Chenyu, 2025. "Dynamic analysis of a novel grand trine shared mooring system for floating wind farm," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 335(C).
    14. O Rourke, Fergal & Boyle, Fergal & Reynolds, Anthony, 2010. "Tidal energy update 2009," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 398-409, February.
    15. Iglesias, I. & Bio, A. & Bastos, L. & Avilez-Valente, P., 2021. "Estuarine hydrodynamic patterns and hydrokinetic energy production: The Douro estuary case study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    16. Gaspar, J.F. & Kamarlouei, M. & Thiebaut, F. & Guedes Soares, C., 2021. "Compensation of a hybrid platform dynamics using wave energy converters in different sea state conditions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 871-883.
    17. Romero-Gomez, Pedro & Richmond, Marshall C., 2014. "Simulating blade-strike on fish passing through marine hydrokinetic turbines," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 401-413.
    18. Li, Yanni & Yan, Shiqiang & Shi, Hongda & Ma, Qingwei & Li, Demin & Cao, Feifei, 2023. "Hydrodynamic analysis of a novel multi-buoy wind-wave energy system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(P1).
    19. Zhou, Binzhen & Hu, Jianjian & Jin, Peng & Sun, Ke & Li, Ye & Ning, Dezhi, 2023. "Power performance and motion response of a floating wind platform and multiple heaving wave energy converters hybrid system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    20. Ghigo, Alberto & Faraggiana, Emilio & Giorgi, Giuseppe & Mattiazzo, Giuliana & Bracco, Giovanni, 2024. "Floating Vertical Axis Wind Turbines for offshore applications among potentialities and challenges: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:4:p:1663-:d:1340620. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.