Tension-leg Platform - Use For Wind Turbines

Use For Wind Turbines

Although the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory explored the concept of TLPs for offshore wind turbines in September 2006, architects had studied the idea as early as 2003. Earlier offshore wind turbines cost more to produce, stood on towers dug deep into the ocean floor, were only possible in depths of at most 50 feet (15 m), and generated 1.5 megawatts for onshore units and 3.5 megawatts for conventional offshore setups. In contrast, TLP installation was calculated to cost a third as much. TLPs float, and researchers estimate they can operate in depths between 100 and 650 feet (200 m) and farther away from land, and they can generate 5.0 megawatts.

TLPs cost less to make and install because they are assembled onshore, are towed to their destination, and can be moved. Paul Sclavounos, an MIT professor of mechanical engineering and naval architecture who was involved in the design, said, "You don't pay anything to be buoyant."

Computer simulations project that in a hurricane TLPs would shift three to six feet and the turbine blades would cycle above wave peaks. MIT and NREL researchers say dampers could be used to reduce motion in the event of a natural disaster.

MIT and NREL researchers plan to install a half-scale prototype south of Cape Cod. Sclavounos said, "We'd have a little unit sitting out there to show that this thing can float and behave the way we're saying it will."