Modelling the hydrostatic stability characteristics of a self-aligning floating offshore wind turbine

Abstract

The offshore wind energy market is fast-growing, particularly in the EU where 102.6 GW are expected to be added by 2030 on top of the 220 GW currently installed. There exist vast areas of offshore wind resources with water depths greater than 100m necessitating floating structures. The paper explores the hydrostatic stability characteristics of a novel floating wind turbine concept, having a single point mooring system and self-aligning capabilities to eliminate a rotor yaw mechanism. The preliminary design supports a 8 MW horizontal-axis wind turbine with a custom floater that can be constructed within the shipyard facilities available in Maltese Islands. The hydro static stability analysis is carried out for different levels of ballast while considering the maximum axial thrust induced by the rotor during operation. It is shown that the entire floating structure exhibits favourable hydrostatic stability characteristics for both the heeling and pitching axes, meeting the requirements set by the DNV ST0019 standard.