SBM Offshore Floater Ready for French Wind Farm

SBM Offshore’s wind floater design, including its mooring system and featuring a commercially available offshore wind turbine, has been granted an Approval in Principle (AIP) by classification society American Bureau of Shipping (ABS).

Based on a TLP concept, the approved design has been developed to a technology maturity level of a Front End Engineering Design (FEED) for all relevant extreme and fatigue load cases, using detailed wind and met-ocean conditions for a site offshore France.

The complete design was developed in-house at SBM Offshore, in collaboration with IFP Energies Nouvelles (IFPEN), using proprietary design tools and the detailed wind turbine model, including the controller.

The AIP verifies that the floater is feasible for the intended application and, in principle, in compliance with the applicable requirements of the ABS Guide for Building and Classing Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Installations and with sound engineering practices.

“We are very proud of this Approval in Principle and it is a testament to the expertise and innovative spirit at SBM Offshore. It represents a key step in the development process towards large scale application of our wind floater, while underlining SBM’s strong commitment to renewable energy solutions,” said Séverine Baudic, Managing Director Floating Production Solutions.

In November 2016, SBM Offshore, a Dutch-based floating production and mooring systems designer and manufacturer, won a contract to deliver three floating platforms for the 24MW Provence Grand Large pilot wind energy project in the French Mediterranean.

The wind farm will comprise three Siemens 8MW wind turbines installed some 17 kilometres off the Napoleon beach, in Port Saint Louis du Rhône, and is expected to be commissioned in 2020.