NOVs own Tri-Floater design will be used as a basis. NOV GustoMSC is about to finalize an optimized, cost effective Tri-Floater concept design. This study will assess the effect on the floater, the mooring system and the power cable system for three sites reflecting different water depths with typical associated met-ocean conditions. The study will also investigate an arrangement to minimize damaging consequences to the power cables due to failure in the mooring system. SINTEF Ocean will focus on improving the hydrodynamic modelling of Tri-Floater for better estimating the mooring loads.
Floating wind turbines need to be anchored to the seabed by mooring systems, typically comprising same type of components as used for mooring floaters in the offshore oil & gas industry. However, since the consequence of failure in the mooring system for a floating wind turbine is mainly an economic risk, with none or very limited risk for human injuries/casualties and pollution, the accepted safety level of these mooring systems is generally lower than for the oil & gas industry. Further, the overall drive for any cost reduction for these power plants leads to high focus on finding optimized mooring system for these floating wind turbines.