Offshore Wind: Design, Development, Construction, Operation [In my View]

Offshore wind is now viewed as a mainstream generation source that can be scaled and deployed globally. Most of the recent offshore wind farms being designed and developed are comparable to large power plants (∼1,000+ MW). The design, construction, and operation of these large wind farms is an engineering marvel, as much so as the electric grid itself. The size of the offshore wind turbine generator doubles almost every eight years with some as tall as the Eiffel Tower. Along with an increase in size, the energy captured from the wind and the power rating of these turbines has also dramatically increased. In addition to size scaling, the turbines are now being installed in deeper waters. Most offshore wind farms operating today are built in shallow waters (<45 m water depth), with the wind turbine foundation fixed to the ocean floor (fixed-bottom foundation). At locations where the ocean is deeper, however, fixed-bottom foundations aren’t feasible and floating foundations are required. The design, development, and construction of offshore wind and its future outlook will be discussed in the sections below.