Installation-method compatibility for floating offshore wind: A foundation–depth–metocean matrix applied to the Korean East Sea

Floating wind projects often commit to a foundation type without a transferable basis for matching installation methods to site conditions. This paper proposes a foundation–depth–metocean compatibility matrix that organises installation-method selection along four foundation types, three water depth zones, and three metocean severity classes. Each cell returns a feasibility verdict, an operability band, a method-maturity level, and a dominant constraint code from a nine-code taxonomy, resolved by a binding-constraint rule. No existing planning tool couples these three layers on a single cell. Applied to the Korean East Sea with GEBCO 2026 bathymetry and ERA5 2000–2024, the matrix reveals a practical installation space far narrower than the conceptual design space. Wet tow is 87.2%–94.9% operable and near-uniform across the development area, so the differences the matrix reports trace to foundation geometry, water depth, and method maturity. Barge and semi-submersible are Feasible with Proven maturity at all depths, and spar in the Deep zone alone, by the only Proven route; TLP remains Conditional throughout, since its tendon-tensioning window is operable only 71.5% of the year. Five announced Korean projects cluster in one corner: semi-submersible wet tow at Deep and Intermediate–Deep sites. Cells withheld from Feasible are held by water-depth, seabed, logistical, or validation gates, released by foundation and mooring design, seabed survey, or multi-project validation. Port works and fleet investment release none. The axes and codes recalibrate to another market, their definitions unchanged. Consulting the matrix before a foundation and site are committed makes installation compatibility a design criterion.