The global energy system will see a rapid transition towards renewables, and offshore wind will be a key ingredient in the mix. According to DNV’s predictions, offshore wind will alone account for 25% of all electricity generation in Europe in 2050. Floating wind at scale will be required to make use of offshore areas in deeper waters to meet the high ambitions. Technology development and design optimization are required to make floating wind commerically viable without heavy subsidies.

The Floating Wind Reliability Joint Industry Project will address design of the underwater floating wind infrastructure. The mooring and dynamic cable system are critical components in a floating wind farm both to ensure the integrity of the structures and to ensure production availability.

The dynamic cable system is a challenging part of floating wind design. Today’s limited requirements are mainly based on requirements for similar type of structures. Understanding the complex load and capacity picture to calibrate new utilisation and design fatigue factors will be an important part of the work in the JIP. Furthermore, guidance on a simplified methodology that can be used in the early cable system design process is lacking in today’s rules and regulations and will be addressed.

For mooring, the design needs to accommodate the high loading and ensure compliance with cable offset requirements. Improved mooring design methodology and optimized safety factors will be developed.

The JIP will kick-off in Q1 2023 and the intention is to present the work that will be performed at UTC.