TetraSpar Demonstrator Floating Wind Turbine Stands Complete

The assembly and installation of the TetraSpar Demonstrator floating wind turbine has been completed at the Port of Grenaa in Denmark, Stiesdal said.

Preparations for marine operations on what Stiesdal describes as ”the world’s first fully industrialized floating foundation” are underway at the port and the fully assembled turbine will be towed to the test site off Stavanger, Norway soon, the Norwegian company said in a social media post.

The TetraSpar Demonstrator will be towed to the Metcenter Test site and installed by Bourbon Subsea Services.

The floating foundation supports a 3.6 MW Siemens Gamesa direct-drive wind turbine.

The defining feature of the TetraSpar foundation concept is said to be the modular “building block” arrangement: each foundation is assembled from tubular steel modules, most of which are common to all configurations.

Another particularity of TetraSpar Demonstrator is its stability provided by a keel deployed 50 metres below the floater. This keel deployment is the main challenge for the offshore installation.

Bourbon Subsea Services will deploy innovative methodology to connect this keel to the floater in port and later on once offshore, to lower it safely and efficiently, the company said.

TetraSpar Demonstrator ApS is owned by Shell (46.2 per cent), TEPCO Renewable Power (30 per cent), RWE (23.1 per cent), and Stiesdal Offshore Technologies (0.7 per cent).