Testing of innovative mooring component holds promise for Floating Wind Technologies

Mooring systems are critical sub-systems for floating offshore wind turbines and innovative nonlinear technologies have the potential to reduce peak loads and cut cost. The Intelligent Mooring System (IMS) is a large diameter braided sleeve surrounding a hydraulic reservoir, which acts as a ‘hydraulic muscle’ – stretching and contracting in response to external forces – to minimise loads on the mooring system.

The physical component tests have been carried as part of the Scottish Government-funded Floating Wind Technology Acceleration Competition (FLW TAC) run by the Carbon Trust’s Floating Wind Joint Industry Project (Floating Wind JIP).

During the course of the FLW TAC project, the component design progressed from Technology Readiness Level 4 (Technology validated in the lab) to TRL 5 (technology validated in relevant environment). The Intelligent Mooring System (IMS) was successfully tested at 1:3 (Froude Scale) using the Dynamic Marine Component test facilities at the University of Exeter.

The project team was able to directly address some of the concerns from the Floating Wind JIP partners and succeeded in demonstrating the performance characteristics and load capacity of the mooring component. The project also enabled the verification and further refinement of the numerical models that allow the detailed, optimised mooring design for floating wind installations.