ShallowFloat

ShallowFloat explores innovative mooring solutions in challenging shallow sites, such as those found on the US East Coast, to alleviate extreme tensions and minimize requirements for system hardware and installation vessels.

Scope

Mooring system components

Funding

National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium, funded by DOE, NYSERDA, and various State agencies

Total budget

$1,451,234

Kick-off

Q4 2020

Duration

36 months

Project lead

Principle Power

Partners

Aker Solutions, American Bureau of Shipping, U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Technology from Ideas

Floating for shallow waters sites

ShallowFloat is a NOWRDC (National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium) funded project that aims to develop and demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of “soft” mooring designs that incorporate an innovative polymer spring into the mooring line.

The spring technology, developed by Technology for Ideas, has the potential to reduce peak loads by more than 50%, enabling reduction in both size and required holding capacity of anchors. Incorporating this polymer spring into Principle Power's mature mooring system design framework is expected to reduce installation vessel requirements, enabling drastic reductions in cost for floating offshore wind projects in shallow waters.

The objective is to design a bankable, low-cost, shallow-water mooring solution that has an Approval-in-Principle (AIP) from the American Bureau of Shipping. The project will include LCOE assessment to provide developers with reliable technical and economic data about the relative tradeoffs of floating platforms compared to bottom-fixed jacket structures in challenging shallow water sites.

We are excited to be working with Technology from Ideas. As we look to the growth of the floating offshore wind sector, deployment in shallow waters will play a major role in meeting targets and, for this, innovation in the mooring space will be key.

- Seth Price, Principle Power’s VP of Technology

About NOWRDC
The National Offshore Wind R&D Consortium was established in 2018 by DOE and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, with each providing $20.5 million to fund high-impact research projects that lower the costs of U.S. offshore wind and support supply chain development. State agencies in Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts, and Maine have since contributed funding, resulting in a total investment of around $47 million.