Model tests confirm GustoMSC Tri-Floater performance in harsh environment
Offshore staff
LA SEYNE-SUR-MER, France – GustoMSC has recently completed model tests on its proprietary Tri-Floater, a semisubmersible floater that it says is capable of hosting large wind turbines.
The tests were performed at the Océanide wave basin in southeast France on a 1:50 scale model of the Tri-Floater hosting the 15 MW NREL reference wind turbine. The floater was subjected to simultaneous wind, wave, and current loading in the wave basin.
Due to the optimized geometry of the submerged structure, the Tri-Floater design exhibited low accelerations at the wind turbine nacelle during the model tests, in good agreement with numerical predictions. Lower accelerations are particularly beneficial since these translate to lower load levels and ultimately lower steel weight of the structure which is one of the most important cost drivers in floating wind.
The Tri-Floater model was subjected to a wide range of environmental conditions to demonstrate the suitability of the design for most of the floating wind sites currently being considered. These included operational conditions which the wind turbine would normally see during its lifetime as well as extreme conditions which it would have to endure during storms. An extreme sea state with a significant wave height of 13.5 m and wind speed at hub height of 190 km/h was tested. GustoMSC says that the Tri-floater successfully passed this test and the results confirm the performance of the Tri-floater in harsh environments.
With the model test campaign completed and numerical models validated, GustoMSC says that the Tri-Floater design has reached Technology Readiness Level 4: “technology validated in lab.” Achieving this milestone strengthens the position of the Tri-Floater as contender for commercial tenders in the floating wind space in 2022 and beyond, the company says.
03/22/2022
