Wind Energy – Mooring System
According to the US Just The Real News Site, Makai Ocean Engineering, an ocean technology and engineering firm based in Hawaii, US, will develop new mooring and anchoring methods for grid-scale floating offshore wind turbines and hydrokinetic systems.
The US Department of Energy (DOE), just awarded the company USD 849,952 to develop its solution.
The new methods are said to enable reducing the costs of offshore renewable energy and deploying floating wind turbines and marine energy devices in areas that would otherwise not be accessible or would be too expensive with current mooring and anchoring technologies.
Makai’s approach involves remotely installing micropiles on the seafloor to allow for the installation of an anchorage strong enough to secure these systems. This approach does not require large and costly equipment and vessels, dramatically reducing the initial installation costs, according to information available on DOE’s website.