DHI, DTU Test 10MW Floating Wind Turbine Scaled Model

DHI and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) are currently testing a scaled model of a 10 MW offshore wind turbine on a floating platform.

The basin tests include simultaneous wind and waves and take place in DHI’s deep water basin as part of the INNWIND.EU project.

Floating offshore wind turbines are relevant in areas where there is a need for offshore wind energy, but where the depths are too large for traditional bottom fixed foundations. Application of a floating substructure requires a thorough and detailed design that takes the interaction between wind, waves and the turbine dynamics into account.

The turbine is DTU’s 10 MW reference wind turbine, which is being tested for the first time ever in a floating configuration. Henrik Bredmose (Associate Professor, Department of Wind Energy, DTU) and Henrik Kofoed-Hansen (Head of Department, Ports and Offshore Technology, DHI) both note that the number of experiments with wind turbines of this power class is very limited.

The experimental setup has been designed and built by two MSc students – Anders Mandrup Hansen and Robert Laugesen – and involves a newly built 4×4 m wind generator and a re-designed rotor that satisfies the specialised scaling relations for turbine motion in simultaneous wind and wave forcing.

The purpose of the experiments is to gain insight into the complex interaction of wind- and wave-induced turbine dynamics during operational conditions and extreme sea states.

DHI will open its doors tomorrow for all visitors for a chance to experience the floating wind turbine testing.