Stiesdal Offshore has landed DKr9m ($1.43m) from the Danish Energy Agency to progress development of its innovative TetraSpar floating wind power concept.

The design – which recently completed model tests at the Danish Technical University (DTU) using a 1:60 scale 10MW concept turbine, is engineered around a modular floating foundation – with an eye on making use of the existing Danish wind supply chain to help drive down the capital cost of floating wind in water depths of 50 metres or more.

“This project is very important for us from a point of view of the whole supply chain,” company founder and modern wind pioneer Henrik Stiesdal tells Recharge.

“In the TetraSpar concept industrialisation is already built into the floater itself. With this project, we take the next step to include also the mooring system and the marine operations, to take industrialisation one step further.

“With [project partners] Aalborg University, Siemens Gamesa and DIS we have a unique combination of competences and experiences. We are extremely grateful that the Danish Energy Agency has enabled this key effort to further reduce costs from floating offshore wind power.”

The TetraSpar, a tetrahedral steel structure constructed from components derived from tower technology, puts the accent on the individual elements – floats, structural parts and mooring – that are mass producible using the wind turbine industry's “normal supply chain”, with installation being carried out “in any port of reasonable size using a standard mobile crane”.

Aalborg University researcher Jens Peter Kofoed said the design would help “realise the potential of wind energy in deep-water while enhancing and exploiting research and development of large floating offshore structures.

“Together with the consortium's expertise in industrialisation, we expect to make a significant contribution to bringing the TetraSpar concept to market and creating a new Danish strength position,” he says.

Stiesdal adds: “We hope the concept will be a game changer on offshore wind power, and the support from the [DEA’s Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Programme] is vital.”

Floating wind power is fast taking shape as a mainstream energy source, with Norwegian energy giant Statoil yesterday (18 October) switching on its 30MW Hywind Scotland array and the EU FloatGen project inaugurated last week.

Analysts are upgrading their expectations of global market-size from early estimates of 3.5GW by 2030 to around 5GW, led by the geographic fact that 60-80% of the world’s offshore wind resource is in water too deep for bottom-fixed turbines, and the societal reality that ever-vaster populations are going to be inhabiting coastal mega-cities.

In northern Europe, where relatively ‘shallow’ seas offer a vast opportunity for conventional offshore wind projects, floating wind is nonetheless odds-on to flourish.

Calculations in a recent report from BVG Associates suggested the “economically attractive” potential of offshore wind — zones generating at €65/MWh ($77/MWh) or less – could be 2,600TWh/year, of which 14% could flow from floating wind farms – meaning in an upside scenario, floaters could be pumping out half of the nearly 6,000TWh/year potential.