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
Floating wind: technology assessment ORE Catapult Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Social & Economic Data
Coastal impact of a hybrid marine farm operating close to the Sardinia Island Onea, F., Rusu, L. Conference Paper Marine Energy, Wave, Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Changes in Flow
A GIS modelling framework to evaluate marine spatial planning scenarios: Co-location of offshore wind farms and aquaculture in the German EEZ Gimpel, A., Stelzenmüller, V., Grote, B. Journal Article Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Marine Spatial Planning
Offshore Wind Energy Development in North Carolina Stearns, B., Murphy, M., Marriott, S. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Environmental Impact Assessment, Legal & Policy, Marine Spatial Planning, Recreation & Tourism, Social & Economic Data
Hywind Scotland Pilot Park Project Marine Noise Desk Study Xodus Group Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Noise Marine Mammals
Hywind Scotland Pilot Park Environmental Statement Statoil Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Environmental Impact Assessment
Hywind Scotland Pilot Park Environmental Statement Non Technical Summary Statoil Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Habitat Change Birds, Fish, Marine Mammals, Physical Environment, Human Dimensions, Environmental Impact Assessment, Fisheries, Navigation, Visual Impacts
TROPOS Project Final Report Brito, J. Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Social & Economic Data
Hywind Scotland Pilot Park Seabirds and Marine Mammals Technical Report Xodus Group, Natural Research Ltd Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Collision Birds, Marine Mammals
CENTRAL EÓLICA OFFSHORE – WINDFLOAT ATLANTIC ESTUDO DE INCIDÊNCIAS AMBIENTAIS Vol. II – Relatório ecobase consulting, WindPlus Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Environmental Impact Assessment
Kincardine Offshore Wind Farm South East of Aberdeen Scoping Opinion Scottish Ministers Guidance Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Environmental Impact Assessment
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Construction of the Block Island Wind Farm National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Changes in Flow, Habitat Change Marine Mammals, Physical Environment
Life-cycle cost analysis of floating offshore wind farms Castro-Santos, L., Diaz-Casas, V. Journal Article Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Life Cycle Assessment
Understanding the Potential for Marine Megafauna Entanglement Risk from Marine Renewable Energy Developments [Presentation] Benjamins, S., Harnois, V., Smith, H. Presentation Marine Energy, Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Entanglement Marine Mammals, Cetaceans
Analysis of measurements and simulations from the Hywind Demo floating wind turbine Skaare, B., Nielsen, F., Hanson, T. Journal Article Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Physical Environment
Kincardine Offshore Wind Farm Environmental Scoping Assessment Atkins Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Environmental Impact Assessment
Experimental Study on Influence of Pitch Motion on the Wake of a Floating Wind Turbine Model Rockel, S., Camp, E., Schmidt, J. Journal Article Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Changes in Flow Physical Environment
A Review of Floating Platform Concepts for Offshore Wind Energy Generation Thiagarajan, K., Dagher, H. Journal Article Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind
Evaluating Offshore Wind Energy Feasibility off the California Central Coast Feinberg, L., Jylkka, Z., Tao, M. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind
South Pembrokeshire Demonstration Zone Marine Energy Wales , ORE Catapult Project Site Marine Energy, Tidal, Wave, Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind
Guidance to Manage the Risk to Marine Mammals from Man-made Sound Sources in Irish Waters Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment Guidance Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Noise Fish, Marine Mammals, Human Dimensions, Stakeholder Engagement
Understanding the Potential for Marine Megafauna Entanglement Risk from Marine Renewable Energy Developments Benjamins, S., Harnois, V., Smith, H. Report Marine Energy, Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Entanglement Marine Mammals, Cetaceans
Environmental Survey Report Hywind Offshore Windfarm MMT Sweden Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Habitat Change Physical Environment
Hywind Scotland Pilot Park Project Phase 1 Intertidal Survey Report Xodus Group Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Habitat Change Birds, Physical Environment
Hywind Scotland Pilot Park Project EIA Scoping Report Statoil Wind Limited (SWL) Xodus Group Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Habitat Change Birds, Fish, Marine Mammals, Physical Environment, Reptiles, Sea Turtles, Human Dimensions, Fisheries, Navigation
Summary of pamguard beaked whale click detectors and classifiers used during the 2012 Southern California behavioral response study Keating, J., Barlow, J. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Avoidance, Displacement Marine Mammals
Impacts of OWF installations on fisheries: A Literature Review Bat, L., Sezgin, M., Sahin, F. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Avoidance, Displacement, EMF, Habitat Change, Noise Ecosystem Processes, Physical Environment, Fish, Human Dimensions, Fisheries, Legal & Policy
Deep Water: The Next Step for Offshore Wind Energy Arapogianni, A., Genachte, A., Ochagavia, R. Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind
Unsolicited Application for an Outer Continental Shelf Renewable Energy Commercial Lease Under 30 CFR 585.230 Principle Power Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Legal & Policy
Ifremer Test Site in Sainte-Anne-du-Portzic The French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (IFREMER) Project Site Marine Energy, Wave, Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind
Potential Impacts of Ocean Energy Development on Marine Mammals in Oregon Davis, A. Report Marine Energy, Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Marine Mammals, Cetaceans
Artificial Reef Effect in Relation to Offshore Renewable Energy Conversion: State of the Art Langhamer, O. Journal Article Marine Energy, Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Habitat Change Ecosystem Processes, Fish, Physical Environment
Hornsea Project 2 Environmental Impact Assessment SMart Wind Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Bats, Birds, Ecosystem Processes, Fish, Invertebrates, Marine Mammals, Reptiles, Human Dimensions, Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Impacts Due to Fixed and Floating Offshore Wind Turbines Brewer, M. Thesis Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind
Maine Deepwater Offshore Wind Report University of Maine, Rockefeller Brothers Fund Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Environmental Impact Assessment
Monitoring and Mitigation Alternatives for Protection of North Atlantic Right Whales during Offshore Wind Farm Installation Carlson, T., Halvorsen, M., Matzner, S. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Noise Marine Mammals, Human Dimensions, Navigation
ESRa - Evaluation of Systems for Ramming Noise Mitigation at an Offshore Test Pile Wilke, F., Kloske, K., Bellmann, M. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Noise Marine Mammals
Wind Energy Plants and Possible Effects on Samandağ Sea Turtles Yalçın-Özdilek, S., Yalçın, S. Magazine Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind EMF, Habitat Change Reptiles, Sea Turtles
The Interaction of Pelagic, Migratory and Protected Fishes with Marine Renewable Energy Projects: Recent Studies and Knowledge Gaps Nelson, P. Presentation Marine Energy, Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Avoidance, EMF, Habitat Change Fish, Pelagic Fish
Spawning and nursery grounds of selected fish species in UK waters Ellis, C., Milligan, S., Readdy, L. Report Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Fish
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