Innovative Deepwater Mooring for Floating Offshore Wind

The cost of anchoring offshore floating wind turbines is an obstacle to reducing the cost of energy from offshore floating wind projects and presents an opportunity for savings. Deep water at sites on the West Coast further drives up these costs. Traditional anchoring systems use large heavy weights, casings, or high drag embedment forces to achieve high-pullout forces required for moorings. High weights and forces ultimately convert into high costs. Triton proposes a robust anchoring system that can be installed with low forces and managed remotely from a generic offshore vessel. This approach is already being adopted as a cost-saving measure for seafloor characterization (drilling) surveys in deepwater and can provide similar cost savings for mooring installation costs. During Phase I, the team will optimize the anchor design, develop a preliminary design of the installation system, and quantify cost reduction potential of the solution. This anchoring technology is scalable and applicable to many types of subsea foundations beyond offshore wind, such as oil & gas, pipelines, and renewable energy systems. Beyond the public benefit of lower cost green energy, the system minimizes acoustic impacts on the environment, and is completely removable.