Floating Offshore Wind

Capturing energy from offshore wind using floating foundations.

Offshore wind energy technologies harness kinetic energy from the wind to generate energy and transport that energy back to shore via a subsea export cable. The main advantage of offshore wind energy is access to stronger and more consistent winds, allowing for the use of larger turbines. The development of offshore wind in Europe and Asia has preceded development activities in other parts of the world; however, several projects in the United States are currently underway. Several floating offshore wind energy demonstrations exist throughout the world, but the technology is yet to be widely deployed.

Floating foundations are used at deep depths (40->1000m) and consist of a balanced floating substructure moored to the seabed with fixed cables. The substructure may be stabilized using buoyancy, mooring lines, or a ballast. Several designs for floating offshore wind substructures currently exist for various depth ranges, including barges, semi-submersibles, tension leg platforms, and single point anchorage buoys. These substructures are connected to one another via inter-array cables, which transport electricity generated from the turbine to floating offshore substations. High voltage export cables then transport the energy to shore. To better understand floating offshore wind, explore these videos from RWE.

The environmental concerns associated with offshore wind farms vary with foundation type. In general, collision risk with birds and bats is a major concern, though the impact is more difficult to quantify offshore because carcasses that provide evidence of collisions become lost at sea. As with all electricity generation, there is a slight concern that electromagnetic fields generated by power cables may affect animals that use Earth's natural magnetic field for orientation, navigation, and hunting. Although pile driving is one of the main concerns surrounding fixed offshore wind energy, floating projects can be constructed onshore and transported out to sea, reducing the impacts from construction-related noise and vessels. Floating foundation’s mooring lines may cause minor scouring or pose a risk of collision or entrapment, but the turbine foundation is mostly located in the upper layer of the water column where there tend to be less organisms.

Photo Credit: Joshua Bauer, NREL

Marine and Wind Energy Environmental Documents

Tethys is a knowledge hub that contains documents on the environmental effects of wind and marine energy. The table below contains all of the documents in the Tethys Knowledge Base associated with Floating Offshore Wind.

Total: 779

Searches title and abstract.
Title Author Date Content Type Technology Stressor Receptor
Wildlife and Wind Farms - Conflicts and Solutions, Volume 3. Offshore: Potential Effects Perrow, M. Book Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Bats, Birds, Fish, Invertebrates, Marine Mammals, Physical Environment
Life Cycle Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Emissions for Floating Offshore Wind Energy in California Bang, J., Ma, C., Tarantino, E. Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Life Cycle Assessment
Noise affects porpoise click detections – the magnitude of the effect depends on logger type and detection filter settings Clausen, K., Tougaard, J., Carstensen, J. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Avoidance, Displacement, Noise Marine Mammals
Site selection process for floating offshore wind farms in Madeira Islands Díaz, H., Fonseca, R., Soares, C. Book Chapter Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Marine Spatial Planning
Site selection for floating offshore wind turbines in Japanese coasts by quantitative risk assessment Shiokari, M., Tabeta, S., Ishida, S. Journal Article Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Habitat Change Fish, Human Dimensions, Marine Spatial Planning, Navigation
Ornithological and Marine Fauna Aerial Survey of Lease Area OCSA 0512 Monthly Report: September 2018 Jervis, L., Warford, S., Arundale, M. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Marine Mammals, Reptiles, Sea Turtles
Digital Aerial Baseline Survey of Marine Wildlife in Support of Offshore Wind Energy Summary of Fall 2018 Digital Survey #10 Normandeau Associates Inc Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind
Ornithological and Marine Fauna Aerial Survey of Lease Area OCSA 0512 Monthly Report: August 2018 Jervis, L., Warford, S., Dominguez Alvarez, N. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Marine Mammals, Reptiles, Sea Turtles
Power transmission: Where the offshore wind energy comes home Firestone, J., Bates, A., Prefer, A. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Social & Economic Data
Assessment of system effects of large-scale implementation of offshore wind in the southern North Sea Boon, A., Caires, S., Wijnant, I. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Changes in Flow, Habitat Change Physical Environment
Humpback Whales and Floating Offshore Wind Farm Animation Grear, M., Copping, A., Sanders, G. Video Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Entanglement Marine Mammals, Cetaceans
Management Objectives and Research Priorities for Fisheries in the Massachusetts and Rhode Island-Massachusetts offshore Wind Energy Area Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Fish, Invertebrates
Digital Aerial Baseline Survey of Marine Wildlife in Support of Offshore Wind Energy Spring 2018 Taxonomic Analysis Summary Report Normandeau Associates Inc Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind
Emissions from corrosion protection systems of offshore wind farms: Evaluation of the potential impact on the marine environment Kirchgeorg, T., Weinberg, I., Hörnig, M. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Chemicals
Determining Habitat Use by Marine Mammals and Ambient Noise Levels Using Passive Acoustic Monitoring Offshore of Maryland Bailey, H., Rice, A., Wingfield, J. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Noise Marine Mammals
Ornithological and Marine Fauna Aerial Survey Results of Lease Area OCS-A 0512 Equinor Quarterly Report: May 2018 to July 2018 Jervis, L., Warford, S., Willmott, J. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind
Ornithology ScotMER Receptor Group Scottish Government Webpage Marine Energy, Tidal, Wave, Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Collision, Displacement Birds, Seabirds
Marine Mammals ScotMER Receptor Group Scottish Government Webpage Marine Energy, Tidal, Wave, Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Collision, Noise Marine Mammals
Ocean Literacy for Workforce Development in the Shipbuilding and Offshore Renewable Energy Sectors in Europe, in Support of the Blue Economy: The MATES Project Papathanasiou, M., Tuddenham, P., Bishop, K. Conference Paper Marine Energy, Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Legal & Policy, Social & Economic Data
Midterm Evaluation WOZEP 2018 Mulder, S., van Mastrigt, A. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Avoidance, Collision, Displacement, EMF, Habitat Change, Noise Bats, Birds, Fish, Marine Mammals, Human Dimensions, Environmental Impact Assessment
Ornithological and Marine Fauna Aerial Survey of Lease Area OCSA 0512 Monthly Report: July 2018 Jervis, L., Warford, S., Wilmott, J. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Marine Mammals, Reptiles, Sea Turtles
Floating offshore wind - Economic and ecological challenges of a TLP solution Kausche, M., Adam, F., Dahlhaus, F. Journal Article Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Social & Economic Data
Humpback Whale Encounter with Offshore Wind Mooring Lines and Inter-Array Cables Copping, A., Grear, M. Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Entanglement Marine Mammals, Cetaceans
Ornithological and Marine Fauna Aerial Survey of Lease Area OCSA 0512 Monthly Report: June 2018 Jervis, L., Warford, S., Wilmott, J. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Marine Mammals, Reptiles, Sea Turtles
Digital Aerial Baseline Survey of Marine Wildlife in Support of Offshore Wind Energy Spring 2018 Target Extraction Summary Report Normandeau Associates Inc Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind
Research and Data Needs Pacific Fishery Management Council Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Fish, Human Dimensions, Fisheries, Stakeholder Engagement
Atlantic Deepwater Ecosystem Observatory Network (ADEON): An Integrated System for Long-Term Monitoring of Ecological and Human Factors on the Outer Continental Shelf Miksis-Olds, J., Martin, B., Warren, J. Report Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Displacement, Habitat Change Ecosystem Processes, Fish, Marine Mammals, Human Dimensions, Fisheries
Ornithological and Marine Fauna Aerial Survey of Lease Area OCSA 0512 Monthly Report: May 2018 Jervis, L., Warford, S., Wilmott, J. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Marine Mammals, Reptiles, Sea Turtles
Understanding Marine Mammal Presence in the Virginia Offshore Wind Energy Area Salisbury, D., Estabrook, B., Klinck, H. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Noise Marine Mammals
Cumulative Adverse Effects of Offshore Wind Energy Development on Wildlife [Thesis] Goodale, M. Thesis Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Habitat Change Birds, Seabirds
Digital Aerial Baseline Survey of Marine Wildlife in Support of Offshore Wind Energy Summary of Summer 2018 Digital Survey #9 Normandeau Associates Inc Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind
The Marine Strategy Framework Directive, Marine Spatial Planning and Marine Renewables: Linking Concepts for Implementation. A Case Study from Scotland MacDonald, A. Thesis Marine Energy, Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind EMF, Habitat Change, Noise Human Dimensions, Marine Spatial Planning
Improving the coexistence of offshore wind farms and shipping: an international comparison of navigational risk assessment processes Mehdi, R., Schröder-Hinrichs, J., van Overloop, J. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Navigation
Hywind Scotland Pilot Park Scoping Opinion Marine Scotland, Scottish Government Guidance Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind
Environmental Sensitivity and Associated Risk to Habitats and Species Offshore Central California and Hawaii from Offshore Floating Wind Technologies Morandi, A., Berkman, S., Rowe, J. Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Collision, EMF, Habitat Change, Noise, Vessel Strike Bats, Birds, Fish, Invertebrates, Marine Mammals
Ornithological and Marine Fauna Aerial Survey Results of Lease Area OCS-A 0512 Equinor Quarterly Report: February 2018 to April 2018 Jervis, L., Warford, S., Willmott, J. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Birds, Fish, Reptiles, Sea Turtles
Digital Aerial Baseline Survey of Marine Wildlife in Support of Offshore Wind Energy Winter 2017–2018 Target Extraction Summary Report Normandeau Associates Inc Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind
Ornithological and Marine Fauna Aerial Survey of Lease Area OCSA 0512 Monthly Report: April 2018 Jervis, L., Warford, S., Goddard, B. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Marine Mammals, Reptiles, Sea Turtles
Hywind Tampen vindpark. Vurdering av konsekvenser for sjøfugl. Moe, B., Christensen-Dalsgaard, S., Follestad, A. Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Collision Birds, Seabirds, Ecosystem Processes, Human Dimensions, Environmental Impact Assessment
Ornithological and Marine Fauna Aerial Survey of Lease Area OCSA 0512 Monthly Report: March 2018 Jervis, L., Warford, S., Goddard, B. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Marine Mammals, Reptiles, Sea Turtles
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