Work Package 1. Platform concept.
Within the HiPRwind project a floating support structure will be designed together with a moorings system to
fit a lower MW-range wind turbine. This 1:10 scale test facility is a first of its kind worldwide and allows
fostering the development of the deep offshore market. The main objective of this WP is to design the test
platform. The expected result is a platform that can serve as a research tool, where a detailed measurement
programme and experiments will be carried out as part of WP3 to 8.
The economics of deep water wind turbines are determined primarily by the additional cost of floating structure
and power distribution system. Therefore one of the objectives of this WP is the development of a new
model of floating platform as an optimized system of large offshore wind turbines. The design of the floating
structure will assure the following requirements:
• To reduce manufacturing, installation and operation costs
• To minimize weight and structural complexity
• To raise the optimal stability and floating capacity even with unfavourable conditions.
The test platform consists of a 1.5 MW wind turbine with a robust floater, mooring system and grid connection.
One of the conditions for the concept is that it can be fabricated, completed and floated out from shallow and
protected harbours before installation on a deeper water site. Accordingly, Semi-Submersible design principles
were adopted as the basis for the HiPRWind concept.
One of the main feasibility aspects of the concept is cost, related to fabrication, installation and maintenance. This is reflected in the design by choosing as much cost-effective solutions as possible without compromising the technical feasibility.
As a final goal of the project is to provide valuable data for Very Large Floating turbine concept, a full scale concept will be established and investigated as a basis before the test concept is finally designed. The goal of the test installation is in the best possible way to calibrate analysis tools and to investigate important technical feasibility aspects of the full scale concept. Accordingly we will work with the full scale concept, and in parallel establish the test model and calibrate this to give the best representation for the full scale floater.
