Periodic Reporting for period 2 - PivotBuoy (PivotBuoy - An Advanced System for Cost-effective and Reliable Mooring, Connection, Installation & Operation of Floating Wind)
Berichtszeitraum: 2020-10-01 bis 2023-03-31
The European Union played a key role in brokering COP21 historic agreement in Paris, where 195 countries adopted the first-ever universal global climate deal.
To achieve the targets set in Paris the EU needs to tap upon its most promising renewable resource, offshore wind energy. More than 80% of the offshore wind resource is located in deep waters, with an estimated potential of 4.000GW (Carbon Trust, 2015. Floating Offshore Wind: Market and Technology Review) an remains almost completely untap.
The overarching project objective was to develop and validate an advanced system (PivotBuoy® ) to harvest floating wind efficiently, reducing its LCOE by 50%. This contributes to making floating offshore wind electricity competitive enabling its widespread adoption, key to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
PivotBuoy achieved this by improving in key elements when compared with the state of the art floating wind solutions. The system is lighter, it reduces mooring and anchor spread, reduces installation costs, increases reliability and maintainability, improves scalability, and minimizes the environmental impact.
Overall, the consortium managed to accomplish the main objectives of this ambitious project. The X30 prototype was designed, built, installed and demonstrated in a real operational environment reaching TRL6, obtaining valuable data from multiple sensors showing excellent hydrodynamic and self-aligning performance and exporting electricity into PLOCAN’s Smart Grid via a dynamic cable.
The project suffered some delays, partially due to Covid-19 pandemic and the volcano eruption in La Palma which affected the supply chain during manufacturing and installations phases and resulted in a one-year extension to be able to completed the testing phase and obtain of the excellent data and results mentioned above.
Altogether, the consortium partners consider it a very successful project which will now be followed up with the scaling up of the technology into a commercial-scale pilot (NextFloat Project).
To achieve the targets set in Paris the EU needs to tap upon its most promising renewable resource, offshore wind energy. More than 80% of the offshore wind resource is located in deep waters, with an estimated potential of 4.000GW (Carbon Trust, 2015. Floating Offshore Wind: Market and Technology Review) an remains almost completely untap.
The overarching project objective was to develop and validate an advanced system (PivotBuoy® ) to harvest floating wind efficiently, reducing its LCOE by 50%. This contributes to making floating offshore wind electricity competitive enabling its widespread adoption, key to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
PivotBuoy achieved this by improving in key elements when compared with the state of the art floating wind solutions. The system is lighter, it reduces mooring and anchor spread, reduces installation costs, increases reliability and maintainability, improves scalability, and minimizes the environmental impact.
Overall, the consortium managed to accomplish the main objectives of this ambitious project. The X30 prototype was designed, built, installed and demonstrated in a real operational environment reaching TRL6, obtaining valuable data from multiple sensors showing excellent hydrodynamic and self-aligning performance and exporting electricity into PLOCAN’s Smart Grid via a dynamic cable.
The project suffered some delays, partially due to Covid-19 pandemic and the volcano eruption in La Palma which affected the supply chain during manufacturing and installations phases and resulted in a one-year extension to be able to completed the testing phase and obtain of the excellent data and results mentioned above.
Altogether, the consortium partners consider it a very successful project which will now be followed up with the scaling up of the technology into a commercial-scale pilot (NextFloat Project).
Throughout the 48 months of the project a part scale prototype of the PivotBuoy system was designed by X1 Wind in collaboration with the partners of the consortium, Intecsea, DNV GL, EDP CNET, ESM who brought their expertise and know how . Simulations where conducted by DTU X1 Wind and WavEC to analyze the PivotBuoy response under different conditions expected in PLOCAN to iterate the design. The structure was manufactured by DEGIMA in Santader before shipping it to Gran Canaria to assemble. The shipment was done with a cargo vessel that transported the structure dismantled in blocks. At Las Palmas port the parts were unloaded and assembled next to the quay at a local shipyard, Hidramar, in an area in the dock with enough space for the platform assembly and the cranes movements. Afterwards, the launching was performed with two cranes lifting the platform in parallel. Finally, the rotor was assembled while the platform was accordingly moored at the quay. In parallel, three concrete blocks, locally manufactured at Hidramar shipyard, were deployed by a tugboat at on the seabed PLOCAN site area. These blocks were the gravity anchors in which the floating platform will be connected once installed. Also the umbilical cable was laid in the seabed by the local working vessel TRAMES. Afterwards, the floating platform was towed and hooked-up on the previously installed subsystems.
Once the prototype was installed in October 2022, the commissioning was performed and a testing and monitoring campaign started to validate the project key performance indicators (KPIs). During the first part of the testing the focus was on validating the performance of floating and mooring system showing very good correlation with the numerical models as well as survivability under extreme weather conditions, facing some very large storms taking into consideration the reduced scale. Finally, once PLOCAN’s smart-grid was ready, the last phase of the testing plan started with the system validation with power production. Initial results show very good power performance and excellent alignment with the wind (as in the previous tests without production), as well as low accelerations and pitch angle during operation which we did not require adaptation of the “onshore controller” of the Vestas V29 turbine proving the excellent stability of the floating platform.
All the work, data, knowhow and experience gathered during each of the project phases bring key learning for future development of floating wind projects using innovative single point mooring sytems such as the PivotBuoy® technology. Despite the Covid 19 outbreak, and the volcano eruption at the near island of La Palma, the project was able to continue with minor disruptions and it was finalized succesfully meeting the project objectives.
Several communications activities were performed to disseminate the work done, the learning gained from the project development and to demonstrate industry-wide benefits of the project outcomes. Thus, various diffusion channels were used to distribute the information. For instance, through the project website, social media accounts from both the project and its partners, attendance to events, conferences and workshops where leaflets and posters were displayed as well as presentations made. Also, there were many appearances in the media explaining the project and the associated technology (e.g. press releases, articles in newspapers, TV and radio news and/or interviews, etc.). The dissemination performance indicators show that the project has accomplished more than the expected metrics and objectives set for the communication and exploitation of the results. Nevertheless, project partners will continue the dissemination activities through their respective companies and enabled channels out of the project period, demonstrating the benefits obtained and its contribution to future developments.
Once the prototype was installed in October 2022, the commissioning was performed and a testing and monitoring campaign started to validate the project key performance indicators (KPIs). During the first part of the testing the focus was on validating the performance of floating and mooring system showing very good correlation with the numerical models as well as survivability under extreme weather conditions, facing some very large storms taking into consideration the reduced scale. Finally, once PLOCAN’s smart-grid was ready, the last phase of the testing plan started with the system validation with power production. Initial results show very good power performance and excellent alignment with the wind (as in the previous tests without production), as well as low accelerations and pitch angle during operation which we did not require adaptation of the “onshore controller” of the Vestas V29 turbine proving the excellent stability of the floating platform.
All the work, data, knowhow and experience gathered during each of the project phases bring key learning for future development of floating wind projects using innovative single point mooring sytems such as the PivotBuoy® technology. Despite the Covid 19 outbreak, and the volcano eruption at the near island of La Palma, the project was able to continue with minor disruptions and it was finalized succesfully meeting the project objectives.
Several communications activities were performed to disseminate the work done, the learning gained from the project development and to demonstrate industry-wide benefits of the project outcomes. Thus, various diffusion channels were used to distribute the information. For instance, through the project website, social media accounts from both the project and its partners, attendance to events, conferences and workshops where leaflets and posters were displayed as well as presentations made. Also, there were many appearances in the media explaining the project and the associated technology (e.g. press releases, articles in newspapers, TV and radio news and/or interviews, etc.). The dissemination performance indicators show that the project has accomplished more than the expected metrics and objectives set for the communication and exploitation of the results. Nevertheless, project partners will continue the dissemination activities through their respective companies and enabled channels out of the project period, demonstrating the benefits obtained and its contribution to future developments.
The project has successfully achieved its goal of proving the performance of the disruptive PivotBuoy design in a real operating environment (reaching TRL6) as well as showing the potential to reduce the LCoE by 50% with respect state of the art solutions at the time of application in 2018.
One of the project drivers has been the significant reduction of the weight of the floating structure compared to the state of the art, but also showing that it can be assembled, installed and maintained using local supply chain. This allows not only reducing costs and increase scalability but also having a positive impact in the local economy helping their industry to pivot into more sustainable business models while contributing to decarbonize the local electrical mix. The success of another European project in offshore wind will help to consolidate the global lead of the EU in this booming market, bringing an opportunity for the whole European supply chain.
The outcomes from the techno-economic, LCoE and life cycle assessments highlighted the wide-reaching macro-economic value of this type of project as well as the lower footprint and environmental impact. The project has show-cased the first fully-functional TLP system in the world in real operation, producing and exporting power to PLOCAN’s microgrid, providing additional information to stakeholders and decision-makers about this promising technology.
One of the project drivers has been the significant reduction of the weight of the floating structure compared to the state of the art, but also showing that it can be assembled, installed and maintained using local supply chain. This allows not only reducing costs and increase scalability but also having a positive impact in the local economy helping their industry to pivot into more sustainable business models while contributing to decarbonize the local electrical mix. The success of another European project in offshore wind will help to consolidate the global lead of the EU in this booming market, bringing an opportunity for the whole European supply chain.
The outcomes from the techno-economic, LCoE and life cycle assessments highlighted the wide-reaching macro-economic value of this type of project as well as the lower footprint and environmental impact. The project has show-cased the first fully-functional TLP system in the world in real operation, producing and exporting power to PLOCAN’s microgrid, providing additional information to stakeholders and decision-makers about this promising technology.