Wind Energy – FOSS Concept
Funding to further develop a floating offshore substation (FOSS) concept has been secured by Semco Maritime, ISC Consulting Engineers, Aalborg University, Energy Cluster Denmark and Norway and Sweden-based Inocean.
The parties announced their collaboration in 2022 and are now set to further accelerate floating offshore substation development through funding from the Energy Technology and Demonstration Program (EUDP).
The floating offshore substation (FOSS) is a crucial component in the offshore wind farm industry as deeper ocean sites further from the coastline are to be utilized. Traditional offshore wind farms are installed on the ocean floor, but at depths greater than approximately 80 meters, this method becomes costly and challenging. Between 60-80% of the world’s offshore wind energy potential is in areas with depths greater than 60+ meters, which presents a need for an alternative solution to bring the power to shore, such as a floating offshore substation.
“Our team’s goal is to mature our earlier announced FOSS400 design further which will unlock the potential for producing wind energy at sites far from the coastline with deeper ocean depths”, says Tommy Flindt, Senior Director of Technology at Semco Maritime. “The funding will solidify our concept as a scaled basin test at Aalborg University is embedded to validate platform and equipment motions. We are very excited to work on this cutting-edge technology to ensure a reliable and cost-effective floating substation can be brought to the global market.”
