A review of floating offshore wind turbine technologies

Abstract

The wind energy industry presents a significant and valuable source of renewable energy, and the demand for renewable energy sources is steadily increasing. Therefore, investing and continuously developing this industry is necessary in order to satisfy these demands. The installed capacity of offshore wind energy has steadily increased over the years. Offshore structures present a number of benefits over onshore structures. This paper reviews the current status of floating offshore wind turbine technology. The development of the current mooring systems used for the floating wind structures as well as the more recent application of single point mooring systems are presented. An overview of existing floating wind turbine prototypes is presented. Finally, knowledge gaps related to the floating wind technology are highlighted.