Fabricated Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Platforms

Floating offshore wind is not only considerably more expensive to install than other forms of clean energy, but the rate of manufacturing is considerably slower, and the supply chain, specifically for the floating platforms that the turbines rely upon, remains undeveloped in the US. The welding required to fabricate massive floating platforms for increasingly larger-capacity wind turbines is not only the largest cost component, but also the most significant driver of the manufacturing schedule. Current production is dominated by lower cost, lower quality, foreign manufacturers, and new Pacific lease-holders are concerned about the ability for a domestic supply chain to compete on cost and schedule. This research aims to develop technology that could reduce the time and cost of welding, that would not only make US-manufactured floating offshore wind platforms more competitive, but also enable a more rapid deployment by significantly decreasing weld time. Building on the successful demonstration of a significantly more efficient manufacturing method using robotic welding and visioning systems to optimize the fabrication of the large tubular steel components, Phase II will advance this technology to be ready for commercialization by mapring the remaining process variables and mitigating adverse quality impacts. In partnership with a leading platform designer, the manufacturing methodology that is being developed will be tailored to the needs of the US Pacific lease holders and designed to work within the constraints of US staging & integration and manufacturing ports. Utilizing the information gathered from over 40 interviews with manufacturers interested in supporting the FOW domestic supply chain, this research will demonstrate the commercial value of this technology not only to improve efficiency and reduce costs, but to allow small- and medium-sized fabricators to participate in markets that they would otherwise not be capable of entering. This strategy is necessary to meet the massive demand that offshore wind turbine platform manufacturing will create, and allow for this critical infrastructure to be manufactured in the US. In order to meet California and Oregonĺs ambitious goal of integrating 5GW and 3GW respectively of offshore wind energy into the state electrical grids by 2030, at least 500 floating offshore wind turbine platforms, equivalent to 2.5 million tons of steel, will need to be fabricated and deployed over the next five years. The ability to manufacture key components for floating offshore wind in the US will improve American energy independence, mitigate ongoing global supply-chain disruptions, and provide tens of thousands of high-skill, high-demand, family-wage manufacturing jobs to underserved urban and coastal communities.