Effect of Floater displacements on offshore wind turbine

Wind energy is one of the most consistent sources of renewable energy and there is a strong, steady and unhindered wind flow in offshore resulting in higher energy generation. In addition there are benefits of no size restrictions and land utilization. The design of the offshore wind turbine is affected by several factors and needs to be economized for mass implementation. The presented work considers the effect of different modes of floater displacements on the offshore wind turbine loading to develop a safe, stable and economical design. Partially fixed turbine was subjected to wind and base displacement. Six displacements were considered using Sway-Rocking Model and their responses were analyzed. Comparisons of the results with the Fully Coupled Floating Offshore Turbine System were also conducted which indicated that among the surge, heave and pitch displacement modes. Pitch was the most important for floater motion and governed the design of an economical floater system. It was also observed that displacements in surge case were 1/3^rd of the displacement in fully coupled case while they were half in case of heave; furthermore the turbine loads for all cases were much lower as compared to the fully coupled case.