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: 781

Searches title and abstract.
Title Author Date Content Type Technology Stressor Receptor
Digital Aerial Baseline Survey of Marine Wildlife in Support of Offshore Wind Energy Fall 2016 Taxonomic Analysis Summary Report Normandeau Associates Inc Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind
Impact on seabirds of new offshore wind energy test and demonstration projects in the Biscay Marine Energy Platform (BiMEP, N. Spain) Bald, J., Franco, J., Menchaca, I. Presentation Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Birds, Seabirds
Kincardine Offshore Windfarm Section 36 consent Decision Letter and Conditions Marine Scotland Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Environmental Impact Assessment
An Assessment of the Economic Potential of Offshore Wind in the United States from 2015 to 2030 Beiter, P., Musial, W., Kilcher, L. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Social & Economic Data
Digital Aerial Baseline Survey of Marine Wildlife in Support of Offshore Wind Energy Fall 2016 Target Extraction Summary Report Normandeau Associates Inc Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind
Geophysical and Geotechnical Investigation Methodology Assessment for Siting Renewable Energy Facilities on the Atlantic OCS Fugro Marine GeoServices Inc. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind
New England Aqua Ventus I - Proposed Project Description and Modification 001 US Department of Energy (DOE) Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions
Digital Aerial Baseline Survey of Marine Wildlife in Support of Offshore Wind Energy Summary of Summer 2017 Digital Survey #5 Normandeau Associates Inc Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind
Effects Matrix for Evaluating Potential Impacts of Offshore Wind Energy Development on U.S. Atlantic Coastal Habitats Latham, P., Fiore, W., Bauman, M. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Habitat Change Bats, Birds, Ecosystem Processes, Fish, Invertebrates, Marine Mammals, Physical Environment, Reptiles, Human Dimensions
NEW YORK OCEAN ACTION PLAN 2017-2027 Abercrombie, D., Chytalo, K. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Habitat Change Ecosystem Processes, Physical Environment
Updated Seal Usage Maps: The Estimated at-sea Distribution of Grey and Harbour Seals Russell, D., Jones, E., Morris, C. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Marine Mammals
Oregon OCS Seafloor Mapping: Selected Lease Blocks Relevant to Renewable Energy Cochrane, G., Hemery, L., Henkel, S. Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Physical Environment
Digital Aerial Baseline Survey of Marine Wildlife in Support of Offshore Wind Energy Summer 2016 Taxonomic Analysis Summary Report Normandeau Associates Inc Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind
Environmental and Consenting Barriers to Developing Floating Wind Farms Including Innovative Solutions Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind
Offshore wind energy ecological programme (Wozep) Monitoring and research programme 2017-2021 WOZEP project team Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Collision, Displacement, Habitat Change Bats, Birds, Ecosystem Processes, Fish, Marine Mammals, Physical Environment
Digital Aerial Baseline Survey of Marine Wildlife in Support of Offshore Wind Energy Summary of Fall 2016 Digital Survey #2 Normandeau Associates Inc Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind
Digital Aerial Baseline Survey of Marine Wildlife in Support of Offshore Wind Energy Summer 2016 Target Extraction Summary Report Normandeau Associates Inc Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind
Site Assessment of the Floating Wind Turbine Hywind Demo Onstad, A., Stokke, M., Sætran, L. Journal Article Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Changes in Flow
Validation of a FAST Model of the Statoil-hywind Demo Floating Wind Turbine Driscoll, F., Jonkman, J., Robertson, A. Journal Article Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Physical Environment
National Offshore Wind Strategy: Facilitating the Development of the Offshore Wind Industry in the United States Gilman, P., Maurer, B., Feinberg, L. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind
Digital Aerial Baseline Survey of Marine Wildlife in Support of Offshore Wind Energy Summary of Summer 2016 Digital Survey #1 Normandeau Associates Inc Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind
Regulatory Framework for Design, Construction and Operation of Floating Wind Turbine Platforms Aubault, A., Roddier, D., Banister, K. Conference Paper Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Legal & Policy
Floating Offshore Wind Platforms Uzunoglu, E., Karmakar, D., Soares, C. Book Chapter Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind
Kincardine Offshore Windfarm Environmental Statement and Appendices Atkins Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Environmental Impact Assessment
Guidelines For Environmental Impact Studies On Marine Biodiversity For Offshore Windfarm Projects In The Baltic Sea Region Baltic Environmental Forum – Latvia Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Collision, Displacement, EMF, Noise Birds, Fish, Invertebrates, Marine Mammals
Vertical Flow Simulations Using the Mesoscale Model to Assess Impacts on Soaring Birds around Offshore Wind Turbines Konagaya, M., Takahashi, M., Kato, H. Journal Article Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Collision Birds, Raptors, Seabirds
Kincardine Offshore Wind Farm Environmental Statement Appendix A: Particle Size Analysis Report Donald, C. Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Physical Environment
Kincardine Offshore Wind Farm Environmental Statement Appendix B: Aerial Surveys Report HiDef Aerial Surveying Ltd Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Birds, Marine Mammals
Kincardine Offshore Wind Farm Environmental Statement Appendix C: Navigation Risk Assessment Anatec Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Navigation
Hydraulic response of submerged breakwaters in Reef Ball modules ILARIA DEL VITA Thesis Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Habitat Change Ecosystem Processes, Marine Mammals, Physical Environment
Determining the Infrastructure Needs to Support Offshore Floating Wind and Marine Hydrokinetic Facilities on the Pacific West Coast and Hawaii Porter, A., Phillips, S. Report Marine Energy, Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions
Engaging Communities in Offshore Wind: Case Studies and Lessons Learned from New England Islands Klain, S., MacDonald, S., Battista, N. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Stakeholder Engagement
Hywind scotland Pilot Park Decision Notice Marine Scotland, Scottish Government Guidance Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind
Marine Energy Research and Innovation Centre (MERIC) Chilean Ministry of Energy , CORFO , Enel Green Power , Naval Energies , Pontifical Catholic University of Chile Project Site Marine Energy, Ocean Current, Tidal, Wave, Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind
Assessment of Entanglement Risk to Marine Megafauna due to Offshore Renewable Energy Mooring Systems Harnois, V., Smith, H., Benjamins, S. Journal Article Marine Energy, Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Entanglement Marine Mammals
Mobile Autonomous Platforms for Passive-Acoustic Monitoring of High-frequency Klinck, H., Fregosi, S., Matsumoto, H. Conference Paper Marine Energy, Tidal, Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Avoidance, Habitat Change Marine Mammals, Cetaceans
Environmental Monitoring Report for VolturnUS Deployment in Castine, ME Brady, D. Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Bats, Birds, Fish, Marine Mammals, Human Dimensions, Fisheries
Deep waters: Lessons from community meetings about offshore wind resource development in the U.S. Hall, D., Lazarus, E. Journal Article Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Social & Economic Data, Stakeholder Engagement
Virginia Offshore Wind Technology Advancement Project on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf Offshore Virginia Revised Environmental Assessment BOEM Office of Renewable Energy Programs Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Environmental Impact Assessment
Floating wind: technology assessment ORE Catapult Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Social & Economic Data
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