Composite platform for floating offshore wind turbine

In a time when turning away from fossil fuels and transitioning towards renewable energy sources is of utmost concern and importance, development of new solutions to obtain renewable energy is critical. Focus on wind energy has substantially increased, as the price of the electricity it generates is now competitive without government subsidies. But the impacts a wind farm has on the environment in which it is installed are often sizeable and attract fierce opposition from neighbours and environmental activists. Even offshore windfarms are subject to a lot of the same criticism as their land counterparts, as they must be installed in shallows waters, which mean they are in coastal regions, affecting the visual landscape and the avian wildlife. An idea to strongly reduce the impact a wind farm would be to move it far away from the shores, where it would not be visible from land, and where there is far less bird presence. The major problem incurred in such a scenario is that the waters are often too deep to build foundations for the turbines. To counter this, over the last few years, some pioneering industrial companies have designed and are starting to launch prototypes of wind turbines based on floating platforms which act as foundations. In essence, the turbines are mounted on stationary boats. In this project, we will be exploring the design potential for floating offshore wind turbine platforms made of glass fibre reinforced polymers, as this material has already proven itself in the marine environment, mostly in small inexpensive leisure vessels. As the platforms are only aimed at having a single purpose, and should be as cheap as possible, they can be extrapolated as being an oversized inexpensive leisure boat. Firstly, we will start by briefly reviewing the existing solutions. We will then propose an initial design for a floating platform made of advanced composite materials. Simultaneously, we will consider the size of the turbine which shall be installed atop the platform. From there, we will determine the dimensioning forces and solicitations that the structure should be able to withstand. Once we have those figures, we will conduct a pre-dimensioning of the various structural elements. We will also briefly discuss the anchoring method to be used and how this shall be attached to the structure, to avoid the platform freely moving around the seas. Finally, we will conclude with a discussion on the advantages and relevance of using advanced composite materials in such a structure.