LA CIOTAT, France — The BATSO joint venture project in France will define and validate tools and techniques for replacing components in offshore wind turbines.
Currently, the replacement operation requires use of heavy lifting equipment followed by towing of the turbines to port. According to the partners, these solutions can be costly.
Through performing the switchovers directly at sea, they aim to make floating wind more competitive in terms of the levelized cost of energy. They plan to deploy an approach used at onshore wind farms, lifting from a crane mounted on the nacelle and developing guiding systems along the tower. They will also measure and quantify the associated carbon footprint savings.
The three-year R&D program has €2.9 million ($3.12 million) in funding from ADEME under the France 2030 State Investment Plan. Participants include BW Ideol, designer and builder of the Damping Pool floating technology; Centrale Nantes for basin testing and designing cable robot system models; and offshore wind operator/maintenance provider EDF Renewables.
“These new maintenance products and services…can be deployed in the floating wind market at pilot and pre-commercial farms by 2027, and at commercial farms by 2030," said Paul de la Guérivière, co-founder and CEO of BW Ideol. “We will make our Floatgen turbine, whose lifespan has been extended by an additional five years, available to accommodate such Research & Development projects.”
Jean-Baptiste Avrillier, director of Centrale Nantes, said the institute would make available its LS2N and LHEEA laboratories. “Our expertise will enable the design and development of a lifting system adapted to marine constraints, as well as the numerical and experimental modeling of lifting operations on floating platforms, ultimately benefiting the environmental impact of floating wind energy,” he said.
