A consortium of six companies has installed an experimental low-cost floating wind turbine as part of a demonstration in a bay off Iki City in Japan's Nagasaki Prefecture.
The concept aims to make a fully domestic supply chain of offshore wind possible.
The demonstrator consists of a vertical-axis wind turbine with three straight blades and a cylindrical floating foundation. The diameter of the rotor is 9.3 metres, and the diameter of the floating foundation is 1.7 metres, while the maximum output power is under 20 kW.
Station-keeping is achieved by three mooring lines, each connected to seabed anchors.
The demonstration, which has a planned duration of one year, will verify the technical feasibility of floating axis wind turbines (FAWTs), numerical analyses, and water tank test results. After the demonstration, the unit will be decommissioned, and detailed inspections of each component will be carried out.
These activities are expected to help identify challenges for long-term operation and support the improvement of the design of future larger-scale systems.
The FAWT Consortium consists of Electric Power Development, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Chubu Electric Power, shipping company Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Sumitomo Heavy Industries, and Albatross Technology.
Outcomes of the present demonstration, together with ongoing studies for larger-scale systems, will be used to advance the development of megawatt-class demonstration systems, with the ultimate goal of their commercial deployment in the future.
