Wind Energy – Floating Wind
Dutch floating wind technology developer TouchWind and Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) are planning to strengthen their alliance.
Last year TouchWind and MOL had already signed an MoU for the joint development of floating wind technology with a primary focus on the further development of TouchWind’s tilting angled one-piece rotor floating wind turbine.
Following the progress of development and testing by TouchWind, both parties agreed on closer collaboration towards the next-stage development of the floating turbine.
At this moment TouchWind is installing a small-scale prototype, with a rotor diameter of 6m, at Fieldlab Green Economy Westvoorne. This fieldlab facilitates research under water and near shore for innovations that contribute to a green economy and is located on the northbank of the Oostvoorne lake in the Southwest of the Netherlands. Testing is scheduled to start from May onwards.
Founder and CEO of TouchWind, Rikus van de Klippe explains: “During the field testing in the lake of Oostvoorne, we want to test in particular the installation, anchoring, mooring and ecological impact of the floating wind turbine. How does the small-scale prototype behave under the conditions on the lake? What influence does the wind turbine have on the existing underwater ecology and on avifauna?”
Masayuki Sugiyama, Executive Officer responsible for Wind Power Projects Unit in MOL states: “These tests and their results will lead to the further optimization of TouchWind’s floating wind turbine concept. The achievements from the tests will raise the project to the next stage. We see great potential in this innovative concept which can realize higher utilization rate and the efficiency of wind farms as well as lower-cost wind turbines.”
