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76-467: During the last ice age, the bank was part of a large landmass connecting mainland Europe and the British Isles , now known as Doggerland . It has long been known by fishermen to be a productive fishing bank ; it was named after the doggers , medieval Dutch fishing boats especially used for catching cod . At the beginning of the 21st century, the area was identified as a potential site for

152-500: A gale . 19 of 20 men died, one of the worst peacetime naval disasters in German history. The bank is an important fishing area, with cod and herring being caught in large numbers. Dogger Bank has been identified as an oceanic environment that exhibits high primary productivity throughout the year in the form of phytoplankton . As such, it was proposed to designate the area a Marine Nature Reserve . Under European Union legislation,

228-1038: A 225 kW Vestas downwind turbine in 50-metre water depth at the Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands in 2022. In 2023, the first floating wind platform in Spain became operational after being connected to the grid. The 2 MW DemoSATH project is a joint effort by Saitec Offshore Technologies, RWE, and the Kansai Electric Power Company . Two common types of engineered design for anchoring floating structures include tension-leg and catenary loose mooring systems. Tension leg mooring systems have vertical tethers under tension providing large restoring moments in pitch and roll . Catenary mooring systems provide station–keeping for an offshore structure yet provide little stiffness at low tensions." A third form of mooring system

304-561: A 250 MW project off Brittany and two more in the Mediterranean . Large-scale auctions are expected in Spain, Portugal, Norway, and the UK, which has already allocated rights for over 15 GW. Europe aims for 3-4 GW of floating wind capacity by 2030, potentially reaching 10 GW with supportive policies. Scale modeling and computer modeling attempt to predict the behavior of large–scale wind turbines in order to avoid costly failures and to expand

380-416: A 250 MW project, and the high cost, small project size and lack of experience keep project developers and financial institutions from the risk of committing to the technology. In 2024, the 250 MW Pennavel project won an auction at €86/MWh. Initial deployment of single full-capacity turbines in deep-water locations began only in 2009. The world's first commercial floating offshore windfarm, Hywind Scotland

456-537: A 32% capacity factor and a floating transformer (see also List of offshore wind farms in Japan ). Two larger turbines of 5 and 7 MW have been unsuccessful. The first floating turbine in Japan was floated near Fukue Island in 2016, after a 5-year demonstration period near shore. In late 2021, China started its first floating wind turbine, a 5.5 MW MingYang at the 400 MW fixed-bottom Yangxi Shapa III wind farm. PivotBuoy received €4m EU funding in 2019, and installed

532-476: A UK round 3 wind farm , being developed as Dogger Bank Wind Farm . The name Dogger Bank was first recorded in the mid-17th century. It is probably derived from the word " dogger " used for a two-masted boat of the type that trawled for fish in the area in medieval times. The area has similar names in Dutch , German , and Danish . The bank extends over about 17,600 square kilometres (6,800 sq mi), and

608-552: A capacity of 25 MW and has operated since July 2020. It produced 78 GWh in 2022, with a technical availability of 93%. The 48 MW Kincardine Offshore Wind Farm is the UK's second commercial floating offshore windfarm, and completed construction in August 2021, and became fully operational in October 2021. It is located 15 kilometres off the coast of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in water depths ranging from 60 metres to 80 metres. Two of

684-540: A different set of ground rules, which subsequently led Statoil to suspend due to increased uncertainty and risk in the project. Statoil considered other locations for its initial US demonstration project. Some vendors who could bid on the proposed project in Maine expressed concerns in 2010 about dealing with the United States regulatory environment. Since the proposed site is in federal waters, developers would need

760-555: A floating wind farm. The Request For Proposal was seeking proposals for 25 MW of deep-water offshore wind capacity to supply power for 20-year long-term contract period in the Gulf of Maine . Proposals were due by May 2011. In April 2012 Statoil received state regulatory approval to build a large four-unit demonstration wind farm off the coast of Maine. As of April 2013 , the Hywind ;2 4-tower, 12–15 MW wind farm

836-475: A large landmass, now known as Doggerland , which connected Britain to the European mainland until it was flooded some time after the end of the last glacial period. Fishing trawlers working the area have dredged up large amounts of moor peat , remains of mammoth and rhinoceros , and occasionally Palaeolithic hunting artefacts. The 1931 Dogger Bank earthquake took place below the bank, measuring 6.1 on

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912-806: A permit from the US Minerals Management Service , "which took more than seven years to approve a yet-to-be-built, shallow-water wind project off Cape Cod " ( Cape Wind ). "Uncertainty over regulatory hurdles in the United States … is 'the Achilles heel' for Maine's ambitions for deepwater wind." In 2013, Statoil pulled out of the $ 120 million project of four 3-MW turbines floating in 140 m depth of water near Boothbay Harbor, Maine citing change in legislation, and focused on their five 6-MW turbines in Scotland instead, where

988-536: A pilot floating wind farm, with six 2-megawatt turbines, off the Fukushima coast of northeast Japan where the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster created a scarcity of electric power. After the evaluation phase is complete in 2016, "Japan plans to build as many as 80 floating wind turbines off Fukushima by 2020." The cost is expected to be in the range of 10–20 billion Yen over five years to build

1064-508: A potential of 519 GW of floating offshore wind capacity in Japan. The four-post principle from Fukushima was certified for feasibility in 2020, and consortium was formed to mass produce the floating foundations. In 2018, NEDO announced two tenders to be launched aiming to support the development of both floating and fixed-bottom offshore wind projects in the country. The US State of Maine solicited proposals in September 2010 to build

1140-683: A project to build a North Sea Wind Power Hub complex on one or more artificial islands to be constructed on Dogger Bank as part of a European system for sustainable electricity. At the North Seas Energy Forum in Brussels on 23 March 2017, Energinet.dk will sign a contract to work with the German and Dutch branches of TenneT ; after that, a feasibility study will be produced. 54°43′N 2°46′E  /  54.717°N 2.767°E  / 54.717; 2.767 Mainland Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe

1216-458: A report on the Tugdock technology: “Tugdock which could enable floating wind developments at sites without suitable port facilities nearby. It could also reduce substructure assembly costs by 10% when compared with conventional methods by reducing requirements for costly heavy lift vessels that are few and far between”. The world's first commercial floating offshore windfarm, Hywind Scotland ,

1292-548: A two-year test deployment. Hywind, owned by Statoil , cost 400 million kroner (around US$ 62 million) to build and deploy. The 13-kilometre (8.1 mi) long submarine power transmission cable was installed in July 2009 and system test including rotor blades and initial power transmission was conducted shortly thereafter. The installation was expected to generate about 9 gigawatt-hour of electricity annually. In 2010 it survived 11 meter waves with seemingly no wear. By 2016,

1368-482: Is a correlation between whether a British citizen considers themselves "British" or "European" and whether they live in an area which primarily supported Brexit . Derivatively, the adjective continental refers to the social practices or fashion of continental Europe. Examples include breakfast , topless sunbathing and, historically, long-range driving (before Britain had motorways ) often known as Grand Touring . Differences include electrical plugs, time zones for

1444-463: Is about 260 by 100 kilometres (160 by 60 mi) in extent. The water depth ranges from 15 to 36 metres (50 to 120 ft), about 20 metres (65 ft) shallower than the surrounding sea. Geologically, the feature is most likely a moraine , formed during the Pleistocene . At differing times during the last glacial period it was either joined to the mainland or an island. The bank was part of

1520-657: Is an offshore wind turbine mounted on a floating structure that allows the turbine to generate electricity in water depths where fixed-foundation turbines are not feasible. Floating wind farms have the potential to significantly increase the sea area available for offshore wind farms, especially in countries with limited shallow waters, such as Spain, Portugal, Japan, France and the United States' West Coast. Locating wind farms further offshore can also reduce visual pollution , provide better accommodation for fishing and shipping lanes , and reach stronger and more consistent winds. Commercial floating wind turbines are mostly at

1596-530: Is high and solar power is low . One of the few ports large enough to prepare offshore wind equipment could be Humboldt Bay . UK floating offshore wind could reach “subsidy-free” levels by the early 2030s, according to a study completed by the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult's Floating Offshore Wind Centre of Excellence (FOW CoE). The UK leading technology innovation and research centre for offshore energy ORE Catapult has produced

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1672-459: Is not economical, the power can be used in power to gas applications to produce hydrogen gas, ammonia / urea , reverse osmosis water desalination , natural gas , LPG , alkylate / gasoline , ship-mounted battery storage, etc. on floating platforms which can be easily transported to nearby consuming centers. Floating wind turbines can be used to provide motive power for achieving artificial upwelling of nutrient-rich deep ocean water to

1748-580: Is not questioned, as the long-term survivability of floating structures has been successfully demonstrated by the marine and offshore oil industries over many decades. However, the economics that allowed the deployment of thousands of offshore oil rigs have yet to be demonstrated for floating wind turbine platforms. For deepwater wind turbines, a floating structure will replace pile-driven monopoles or conventional concrete bases that are commonly used as foundations for shallow water and land-based turbines. The floating structure must provide enough buoyancy to support

1824-493: Is now automatically eligible for an additional $ 39.9 Million in construction funding from the DOE, as long as the project continues to meet its milestones. WindFloat is a floating foundation for offshore wind turbines designed and patented by Principle Power . A full-scale prototype was constructed in 2011 by Windplus, a joint-venture between EDP , Repsol , Principle Power, A. Silva Matos, Inovcapital, and FAI. The complete system

1900-610: Is that although the Scandinavian peninsula is attached to continental Europe, and accessible via a land route along the 66th parallel north , it is usually reached by sea. Kontinenten ("the Continent") is a vernacular Swedish expression that refers to an area excluding Sweden , Norway , and Finland but including Denmark (even the Danish Archipelago which is technically not a part of continental Europe) and

1976-539: Is the ballasted catenary configuration, created by adding multiple-tonne weights hanging from the midsection of each anchor cable in order to provide additional cable tension and therefore increase stiffness of the above-water floating structure. The IEC 61400 –3 design standard requires that a loads analysis be based on site-specific external conditions such as wind, wave and currents. The IEC 61400–3-2 standard applies specifically to floating wind turbines. The technical feasibility of deepwater floating wind turbines

2052-471: Is the contiguous mainland of Europe , excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent , – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by some, simply as the Continent . When Eurasia is regarded as a single continent, Europe is treated both as a continent and subcontinent . The continental territory of the historical Carolingian Empire

2128-593: The Netherlands deployed the world's first floating wind turbine, 21.3 kilometres (13.2 mi) off the coast of Apulia , Italy in December 2007. The 80 kW prototype was installed in waters 113 metres (371 ft) deep in order to gather test data on wind and sea conditions, and was decommissioned at the end of 2008. The turbine utilized a tension-leg platform design and a two-bladed turbine. The first large-capacity, 2.3-megawatt floating wind turbine

2204-661: The Richter scale and was the largest earthquake ever recorded in the United Kingdom. Its hypocentre was 23 kilometres (14 mi) beneath the bank, and the quake was felt in countries all around the North Sea, causing damage across eastern England. South of Dogger Bank is the Cleaver Bank . Several shipwrecks lie on the bank. In 1966, the German submarine U-Hai , a German Type XXIII submarine , sank during

2280-723: The continental part of Greece (excluding the Aegean Islands , Crete , and the Ionian Islands ), the continental part of Italy (excluding Sardinia , Sicily , etc.), the continental part of Portugal (excluding the Azores and Madeira ), and the continental part of Spain (excluding the Balearic Islands , the Canary Islands , the plazas de soberanía , etc.). The term is used from the perspective of

2356-410: The 88 MW Hywind Tampen was calculated at NOK 8 billion. As of October 2010 , feasibility studies supported that floating turbines are becoming both technically and economically viable in the UK and global energy markets. "The higher up-front costs associated with developing floating wind turbines would be offset by the fact that they would be able to access areas of deep water off the coastline of

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2432-534: The FLOATGEN project, a floating wind turbine demonstration project based on Ideol's technology, built by Bouygues Travaux Publics and operational off the coast of Le Croisic on the offshore experimentation site of Ecole Centrale de Nantes (SEM-REV). The construction of this project, France's first offshore wind turbine with a capacity of 2 MW, was completed in April 2018 and the unit installed on site in August 2018. For

2508-488: The French government selected Eolmed, a consortium led by French renewable energy developer Quadran in association with Ideol, Bouygues Travaux Publics and Senvion, for the development and construction of a 25MW Mediterranean floating offshore wind farm 15 km off the coastal town of Gruissan (Languedoc-Roussillon), planned to be commissioned 2020. VolturnUS is North America's first floating grid-connected wind turbine. It

2584-579: The Nordic archipelago, as well as nearby oceanic islands , including the Canary Islands , Madeira , the Azores , Iceland , the Faroe Islands , and Svalbard . The Scandinavian Peninsula is sometimes also excluded even though it is a part of "mainland Europe", as the de facto connections to the rest of the continent were historically across the Baltic Sea or North Sea (rather than via

2660-622: The U.S. and the world, it has been found to significantly reduce costs compared to existing floating systems. The design has also received a complete third-party engineering review. In June 2016, the UMaine-led New England Aqua Ventus I project won top tier status from the US Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Technology Demonstration Program for Offshore Wind. This means that the Aqua Ventus project

2736-665: The UK where winds are stronger and reliable." The Offshore Valuation study conducted in the UK has confirmed that using just one third of the UK's wind, wave and tidal resource could generate energy equivalent to 1 billion barrels of oil per year; the same as North Sea oil and gas production. A significant challenge when using this approach is the coordination needed to develop transmission lines. A 2015 report by Carbon Trust recommends 11 ways to reduce cost. Also in 2015, researchers at University of Stuttgart estimated cost at €230/MWh. In California , offshore wind coincides well with evening and winter consumption, when grid demand

2812-544: The average retail electricity consumer. Power could be flowing into the grid no earlier than 2016. As a result of legislation in 2013 by the State of Maine , Statoil placed the planned Hywind Maine floating wind turbine development project on hold in July 2013. The legislation required the Maine Public Utilities Commission to undertake a second round of bidding for the offshore wind sites with

2888-620: The average wind speed is 10 m/s and the water depth is 100 m. In June 2016, Maine's New England Aqua Ventus I floating offshore wind demonstration project, designed by the DeepCwind Consortium, was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to participate in the Offshore Wind Advanced Technology Demonstration program. In August 2021, the project got approval to use non-US barges. In January 2022, Crown Estate Scotland ,

2964-441: The column supporting the turbine, thus creating an "asymmetric mooring." As the wind shifts direction and changes the loads on the turbine and foundation, a secondary hull-trim system shifts ballast water between each of the three columns. This permits the platform to maintain even keel while producing the maximum amount of energy. This is in contrast to other floating concepts which have implemented control strategies that de-power

3040-431: The early phase of development, with several single turbine prototypes having been installed since 2007. As of 2023 , there are 4 operational floating wind farms, at a combined 193 MW. The Hywind Tampen floating offshore wind farm , recognized as the world's largest, began operating in August 2023. Located approximately 140 kilometers off the coast of Norway, it consists of 11 turbines and is expected to supply about 35% of

3116-476: The electricity needs for five nearby oil and gas platforms . The concept for large-scale offshore floating wind turbines was introduced by Professor William E. Heronemus at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1972. It was not until the mid 1990s, after the commercial wind industry was well established, that the topic was taken up again by the mainstream research community. Blue H Technologies of

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3192-514: The first six floating wind turbines. In 2011, some foreign companies had also planned to bid on the 1-GW large floating wind farm that Japan hoped to build by 2020. In March 2012, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry approved a 12.5bn yen ($ 154m) project to float a 2-MW Fuji in March 2013 and two 7-MW Mitsubishi hydraulic "SeaAngel" later about 20–40 km offshore in 100–150 metres of water depth. The Japanese Wind Power Association claims

3268-445: The floating wind turbine would be used to drive high–flow and low–head water pumps to draw cold water from below 50 meters water depth and mixed with warm surface water by eductors before releasing it into the sea. Mediterranean Sea , Black Sea , Caspian Sea , Red Sea , Persian Gulf , deep water lakes/reservoirs are suitable for artificial upwelling for enhancing fish catch economically. These units can also be mobile-type to utilize

3344-470: The floating wind turbines, the turbine rotates around its single mooring point to face the wind. The pivot point ensures the mechanical and electrical link between the turbine and the sea floor. Eolink grid connected its first one-tenth scale demonstrator in April 2018. Ideol's engineers have developed and patented a ring-shaped floating foundation based on a central opening system (Damping Pool) used for optimizing foundation + wind turbine stability. As such,

3420-574: The island residents of each country to describe the continental portion of their country or the continent (or mainland) as a whole. Metropolitan France is also known as l'Hexagone , "the Hexagon", referring to its approximate shape on a map. Continental Italy is also known as lo Stivale , "the Boot", referring to its approximate shape on a map. Continental Spain is referred to as peninsular Spain . Floating wind turbine A floating wind turbine

3496-531: The late 1990s, representative costs and the economic feasibility of shallow-water offshore wind power are well understood. In 2009, shallow-water turbines cost US$ 2.4-3 million per megawatt to install, according to the World Energy Council , while the practical feasibility and per-unit economics of deep-water, floating-turbine offshore wind was yet to be established. In 2021, a French auction closed below €120/MWh (US$ 141/MWh) of electricity for

3572-553: The lengthy land route that involves travelling to the north of the peninsula where it meets Finland, and then south through northeast Europe). The Øresund Bridge now links the Scandinavian road and rail networks to those of Western Europe. In both Great Britain and Ireland, the Continent is widely and generally used to refer to the mainland of Europe. An amusing British newspaper headline supposedly once read, "Fog in Channel ; Continent Cut Off". It has also been claimed that this

3648-417: The month of February 2020, it had an availability of 95% and a capacity factor of 66%. In August 2018, Hibiki, the second demonstrator with an aerodyn Energiesysteme GmbH 3.2 MW 2-bladed wind turbine was installed 15 km east of the port of Kitakyushu by Japanese conglomerate Hitachi Zosen. Ideol developed the design for this steel hull that was manufactured in a Japanese dry dock. In August 2017,

3724-660: The most part, the use of left-hand traffic , and for the United Kingdom, currency and the continued use of certain imperial units alongside the metric units which have long since displaced customary units in continental Europe. Britain is physically connected to continental Europe through the undersea Channel Tunnel (the longest undersea tunnel in the world), which accommodates both the Eurotunnel Shuttle (passenger and vehicle use – vehicle required) and Eurostar (passenger use only) services. These services were established to transport passengers and vehicles through

3800-529: The program, ScotWind, as a commercial breakthrough. In December 2022, the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management awarded leases for 4.6 GW on 373,000 acres offshore California to 5 winners who are required to pay $ 750m. The price of $ 2,000/acre is less than East Coast leases, due to lower competition and higher build cost. As of 2023, Europe hosts 4 small floating wind farms with a combined capacity of 176 MW. Expansion plans are notable, with France tendering

3876-444: The project has since been cancelled. The subsea metal structure is reported to improve dynamic stability, whilst still maintaining shallow draft , by dampening wave– and turbine–induced motion utilizing a tri-column triangular platform with the wind turbine positioned on one of the three columns. The triangular platform is then "moored" using a conventional catenary mooring consisting of four lines, two of which are connected to

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3952-592: The protected area has been divided between several countries, including the UK. In September 2020, Greenpeace dropped several granite boulders from their ship Esperanza on the Dogger Bank area. Concerns had been raised when a supertrawler had been seen off the Yorkshire coast . The action undertaken by Greenpeace had support from some of those in the fishing trade. The large granite rocks are harmless to marine life and surface fishing, but they get entangled in

4028-578: The public corporation of the Scottish Government responsible for the management of land and property in Scotland, awarded 14.5 GW in 10 leases for floating wind farms, along with 10 GW of fixed-foundation. There were 74 applicants, and 17 winners. By April 2022, all 17 lease holders had signed up, and are required to pay £700m to the Scottish government. Floating wind power has so far been considered costly, but industry commentators described

4104-568: The rest of continental Europe. In Norway, similarly, one speaks about Kontinentet as a separate entity. In Denmark, Jutland is referred to as the mainland and thereby a part of continental Europe. The Scandinavian Peninsula is now connected to the Danish mainland (the Jutland Peninsula ) by several bridges and tunnels. The Continent may sometimes refer to the continental part of France (excluding Corsica and overseas France ),

4180-464: The seasonal favourable winds all around the year. Eolink floating wind turbine is a single point mooring system technology. The patented structure of this French company based in Plouzané is a semi-submersible floating hull with a 4 masts pyramidal structure. The structure supports the turbine by 2 upwind and 2 downwind masts. It gives more clearance for the blades and distributes stress. Unlike most of

4256-510: The sloshing water contained in this central opening counteracts the swell-induced floater oscillations. Foundation-fastened mooring lines are attached to the seabed to hold the assembly in position. This floating foundation is compatible with all wind turbines without any modification and has reduced dimensions (from 36 to 55 metres per side for a wind turbine between 2 and 8 MW). Manufacturable in concrete or steel, this floating foundation allows for local construction near project sites. Ideol leads

4332-467: The surface for enhancing fisheries growth in areas with tropical and temperate weather. Though deep seawater (below 50 meters depth) is rich in nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, the phytoplankton growth is poor due to the absence of sunlight. The most productive ocean fishing grounds are located in cold water seas at high latitudes where natural upwelling of deep sea water occurs due to inverse thermocline temperatures. The electricity generated by

4408-541: The tunnel on a 24/7 basis between England and continental Europe, while still maintaining passport and immigration control measures on both sides of the tunnel. This route is popular with refugees and migrants seeking to enter the UK. Especially in Germanic studies , continental refers to the European continent excluding the Scandinavian Peninsula , Britain, Ireland, and Iceland. The reason for this

4484-408: The turbine had produced 3 GWh. The cost of this project is around €20 million (about US$ 26 million). This single wind turbine can produce energy equivalent for 1300 homes. It operated until 2016, and survived storms without damage. Principle Power was planning a 30-MW WindFloat project in 2013 using 6-MW Siemens turbines in 366 m of water near Coos Bay, Oregon to be operational in 2017, but

4560-505: The turbine had produced 50 GWh; an overall capacity factor of 41%. The turbine survived 40 m/s wind speed and 19 m waves and was sold in 2019, expecting 10 more years of production and tests. At the same site, the 3.6 MW TetraSpar was commissioned in December 2021. In September 2011, Principle Power, backed by EDP, Repsol, ASM and Portugal ventures installed in Portugal the second grid-connected full-scale prototype. WindFloat WF1

4636-711: The turbines have been towed to port for repairs, and returned. In August 2019, Enova awarded NOK 2.3 billion to Equinor for the NOK 8 billion 88 MW concrete floating wind farm called Hywind Tampen, with the purpose of reducing technology costs and supplying 35% of the annual power to the Snorre and Gullfaks oil fields. Construction began in 2021, and turbines were assembled in 2022, sending first power to Gullfaks A in November 2022, and completed in August 2023. Submersible Location map In 2011, Japan planned to build

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4712-442: The use of offshore wind power from fixed to floating foundations. Topics for research in this field include: As they are suitable for towing, floating wind turbine units can be relocated to any location on the sea without much additional cost. So they can be used as prototype test units to practically assess the design adequacy and wind power potential of prospective sites. When the transmission of generated wind power to nearby land

4788-414: The water is shallow enough for traditional fixed-foundation wind turbine designs. Fixed-foundation wind turbines are economically limited to maximum water depths of 40 to 50 m (130 to 160 ft; 22 to 27 fathoms); at greater water depths new floating wind turbine designs are required, which currently cost significantly more to build. In January 2010, a licence to develop a wind farm on Dogger Bank

4864-609: The weight of the turbine and to restrain pitch, roll and heave motions within acceptable limits. The capital costs for the wind turbine itself will not be significantly higher than current marine-proofed turbine costs in shallow water. Therefore, the economics of deepwater wind turbines will be determined primarily by the additional costs of the floating structure and power distribution system, which are offset by higher offshore winds and close proximity to large load centres (e.g. shorter transmission runs). With empirical data obtained from fixed-bottom installations off many countries since

4940-430: The weighted nets of bottom trawlers, obstructing the practice. A Greenpeace spokesperson said "how can you continue to allow bottom trawlers to plough the seabed in a protected area? .... [it] is the equivalent to allowing bulldozers to plough through a protected forest." The Dogger Bank was selected for offshore wind farms because it is far away from shore, avoiding complaints about the visual impact of wind turbines. Yet,

5016-505: Was Hywind, which became operational in the North Sea near Norway in September 2009. The turbine was constructed by Siemens Wind Power and mounted on a floating tower with a 100 m deep draft, with a float tower constructed by Technip . After assembly in the calmer waters of Åmøy Fjord near Stavanger , Norway, the 120 m tall tower was towed 10 km offshore into 220 m deep water, 10 km southwest of Karmøy , on 6 June 2009 for

5092-545: Was a regular weather forecast in Britain in the 1930s. In addition, the word Europe itself is also regularly used to mean Europe excluding the islands of Great Britain, Iceland, and Ireland (although the term is often used to refer to the European Union ). The term mainland Europe is also sometimes used. Usage of these terms may reflect political or cultural allegiances, for example it has been observed that there

5168-509: Was assembled and commissioned onshore including the turbine. The entire structure was then wet-towed 400 kilometres (250 mi) (from southern to northern Portugal) to its final installed location 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) offshore of Aguçadoura, Portugal , previously the Aguçadoura Wave Farm . The WindFloat was equipped with a Vestas v80 2.0-megawatt turbine and installation was completed on 22 October 2011. A year later,

5244-580: Was being developed by Statoil North America for placement 20 kilometres (12 mi) off the east coast of Maine in 140–158 metres (459–518 ft)-deep water of the Atlantic Ocean . Like the first Hywind installation off Norway, the turbine foundation would be a spar floater . The State of Maine Public Utility Commission voted to approve the construction and fund the US$ 120 ;million project by adding approximately 75 cents/month to

5320-419: Was commissioned in 2017. It uses 5 Siemens turbines of 6 MW each, has a capacity of 30 MW and is sited 18 miles (29 km) off Peterhead . The project also incorporates a 1 MWh lithium-ion battery system (called Batwind). In its first 5 years of operation it averaged a capacity factor of 54%, sometimes in 10 meter waves. WindFloat Atlantic, sited 20 km off the coast of Viana do Castelo, Portugal, has

5396-562: Was commissioned in 2017. Its capital cost was £264 million, or £8.8m/MW, which is approximately three times the capital cost of fixed offshore windfarms and ten times the capital cost of gas-fired power stations. Its operating costs, at approximately £150,000/MW were also higher than for fixed offshore windfarms. A second UK project, the Kincardine Floating Offshore Windfarm, has been reported as costing £500 million to build, or £10m/MW. In 2023, costs for

5472-403: Was fitted with a Vestas 2 MW turbine and went on to produce over 17 GWh of electricity over the next 5 years. The unit was decommissioned in 2016 and was later repurposed. In June 2013, the University of Maine deployed the 20 kW VolturnUS 1:8, a 65 foot (20 m) tall floating turbine prototype that is 1:8th the scale of a 6-MW, 450 foot (140 m) rotor diameter design. VolturnUS 1:8

5548-463: Was granted to Forewind Ltd, a consortium of developers. Projected initially to generate up to 9 gigawatts of power as part of a planned nine zone project of 32 gigawatts, the plan was later scaled down to a 7.2-gigawatt installation in agreement with the area's owner Crown Estates . Construction was scheduled to start around 2014 at the earliest but has been repeatedly postponed. Dutch, German, and Danish electrical grid operators are cooperating in

5624-725: Was lowered into the Penobscot River in Maine on 31 May 2013 by the University of Maine Advanced Structures and Composites Center and its partners. During its deployment, it experienced numerous storm events representative of design environmental conditions prescribed by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) Guide for Building and Classing Floating Offshore Wind Turbines, 2013. The VolturnUS floating concrete hull technology can support wind turbines in water depths of 45 m or more. With 12 independent cost estimates from around

5700-518: Was one of the many old cultural concepts used for mainland Europe . This was consciously invoked in the 1950s as one of the basis for the prospective European integration (see also multi-speed Europe ) The most common definition of mainland Europe excludes these continental islands : the Greek islands , Cyprus , Malta , Sicily , Sardinia , Corsica , the Balearic Islands , Great Britain and Ireland and surrounding islands, Novaya Zemlya and

5776-617: Was the first grid-connected offshore wind turbine deployed in the Americas. The VolturnUS design utilizes a concrete semi-submersible floating hull and a composite materials tower designed to reduce both capital and Operation & Maintenance costs, and to allow local manufacturing. The technology was the result of collaborative research and development conducted by the University of Maine-led DeepCwind Consortium. The first 2 MW Hitachi turbine became operational in November 2013, and had

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