Freiberg and Dresden Engineers to Test Floating Wind Foundation in the Netherlands

June 17, 2013

A consulting and engineering company GICON and the Technical University of Freiberg are inviting media representatives at 11 am on Monday, 24th of June 2013, to Wageningen (the Netherlands) to attend a demonstration of a floating offshore foundation (Schwimmendes Offshore-Fundament; SOF) for wind turbines.

The newly developed foundation will allow the use of wind turbines for power generation in very deep waters (up to 700 meters). At the Maritime Research Institute Netherlands (MARIN), Dresden and Freiberg engineers will test the performance of the SOF while exposed to strong winds and waves.

Some 75 percent of the global potential of wind turbines is located at water depths from about 30 meters. The technical possibilities and the extreme weather conditions that prevail on the high seas have so far limited the use of wind turbines in deeper waters.

Engineers of the Technical University of Freiberg and the Dresden-based company GICON have therefore designed a floating platform for wind turbines. The system, which is based on the tension-leg principle (TLP), can be built entirely on land and then transported to the final location.

[mappress]

Offshore WIND Staff, June 17, 2013; Image: GICON