Floating Wind Turbines Make Wind Energy Cheaper

As we all know when people decided to take on a building project that takes place on or around the water costs tend to rise. The same can be said for wind turbines, in a new study by the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) (United Kingdom) those costs can be justified by long term economic efficiency.

ETI chief executive Dr. David Clarke states, "The traditional view is that the cost of offshore wind becomes increasingly expensive as turbines are located in deeper water, due to additional expenses of supporting traditional turbine structures."

The cost of turbine foundations increase as you get into deeper water, but the wind speeds in deeper water environments are significantly stronger and more consistent, which in turn results in a more reliable and higher energy output.

The conclusions of this this study are simple, floating wind turbines are both technically and economically feasible.

Two more feasibility studies on floating wind turbines are currently under way. The first being the Nova Project, which is analyzing the potential use of vertical axis turbines offshore. The second study, the Helm Wind Project is looking into the viability of making changes to the basic design of offshore wind farms.

With data to support the building of offshore deep water wind turbines industry professionals are optimistic about the future of renewable energy.