20 Mar 2019by David Foxwell A consortium lead by The European Marine Energy Centre will aim to demonstrate floating wind’s cost-competitiveness The European Marine Energy Centre is to lead a consortium from Ireland, the UK, France, the Netherlands and Germany that aims to demonstrate floating wind’s cost-competitiveness. The €31M (US$35M) project has been approved and, subject to consenting, a full-scale floating wind turbine will be deployed for testing off the west coast of Ireland at a Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) test site near Belmullet, County Mayo, by 2022. The project is led by the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) working in partnership with SEAI, Saipem and other European organisations. Funding has been secured from Interreg North West Europe to accelerate the uptake of floating offshore wind. The project will demonstrate the survivability and cost-competitiveness of floating offshore wind technology. It will also support the development of an active supply chain in the region which has some of the strongest wind and ocean resources in the world. The project is known as Accelerating market uptake of Floating Offshore Wind Technology (AFLOWT) and is the first project of its kind at such scale to draw on expertise from right across Europe. Ireland’s Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Richard Bruton TD said “Decarbonising our electricity supply will be crucial to becoming a leader in climate change. We are fortunate in Ireland to have such a fantastic wind energy resource. Almost one third of Ireland’s electricity currently comes from renewables, with wind being the highest contributor. However, we need to step up our ambition in this area and stretch ourselves farther. I welcome this project as an excellent opportunity to further explore the potential of offshore wind.” Commenting on the reasons for choosing offshore wind, EMEC commercial director John Wragg said, “Over the past 15 years EMEC has hosted more ocean energy technologies at its real sea test berths in the UK than any other facility in the world. We have developed a wealth of knowledge and expertise that can now be transferred to the testing and demonstration of floating offshore wind to help it make the most cost effective and rapid transition to commercialisation.” “If floating offshore wind technology can operate reliably and efficiently on the west coast of Ireland, it will work anywhere. Through this project we hope the successful technology demonstrations will fundamentally expand the global offshore wind market.” Saipem SA chief executive and E&C offshore division chief operating officer Stefano Porcari said, “For Saipem this project represents a unique opportunity to prove floating wind technology in severe environments.” Saipem will be supported by project partners with research and development insights coming from Cable Life Cycle Assurance in France, Maritime Research Institute Netherlands, Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems in Germany, University College Cork and Electricity Supply Board Engineering & Major Projects in Ireland. EMEC will manage the project from the UK, with the initial kick-off meeting of partners having taken place in Dublin on 12 March 2019. Once planning, permitting and supply chain requirements are in place, the floating turbine will be tested for a year at SEAI’s Atlantic Marine Energy Test Site (AMETS) off the west coast of Ireland. Deployment is currently planned for 2022. By testing at AMETS, the technology developed in AFLOWT will be proven in the harshest of northwest Europe’s offshore environments, readying it for application at any deepwater offshore environment across the world.
The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) will lead a €31M ($35m) project to test a floating wind turbine off the west coast of Ireland by 2022. A consortium, including the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, Italian oil and gas firm Saipem and other European groups, will look to prove the durability and competitiveness of offshore floating wind installations and will develop a supply chain to support them. “Offshore wind is an attractive option for renewable energy because it can be deployed in remote locations with little or no infrastructure – unlike onshore wind,” said EMEC CEO John O’Leary.