GICON and Glosten Float Tension Leg Platform Partnership

Germany’s GICON and the Seattle-based engineering consultancy Glosten are forming a strategic business relationship to develop a tension leg platform (TLP) offshore wind foundation.

The TLP will be designed to cover water depths from 20 metres to 350 metres, all metocean conditions, seabed types and turbine sizes, the engineering companies said.

Both companies provide engineering as their core business, and over the past years, both have developed their own respective substructure technologies. The GICON SOF and the Glosten PelaStar TLP designs have complementary advantages, the companies said.

The collaboration is expected to advance each design type and open the door to the potential evolution of hybrid solutions.

”The result of the new partnership offers developers, utilities and independent power producers a single source TLP solution with a LCOE of less than 70€/MWh. Our medium-term goal is to reach $54/MWh for a windfarm consisting of 10MW wind turbines” said GICON founder Prof. Jochen Grossmann.

The advantage of the TLP offshore wind substructure lies in its stability, the companies said. Therefore, the demands on wind turbines from platform motion are much lower compared to other floating technologies.

The stability of a TLP system is achieved by the combination of forces from tendons and buoyancy. No separate systems for stabilization, such as active ballast systems are needed. Furthermore, the TLP has a significantly lower mass compared to other offshore foundation solutions, such as semisubmersible floaters.