Gazelle Wind Power Unveils Third Generation Floating Offshore Wind Platform Technology
The title of this post, is the same as that, of this press release from Gazelle Wind Power.
There is a visualisation in the press release and it looks very different.
This is the first paragraph.
Gazelle Wind Power (Gazelle), the developer of a modular floating offshore wind platform, is unveiling third generation technology this week at WindEurope 2023 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The company’s enhanced design further refines Gazelle’s solution to address the primary challenges facing the offshore wind industry—such as cost, supply chain bottlenecks, and sustainability—by providing a lightweight, cheaper design that minimizes the impact on fragile marine environments while using existing port infrastructure.
It looks like they’ve set themselves a tough set of objectives.
These are a few points from the press release.
- A one-gigawatt offshore wind farm using Gazelle’s solution would save 71 kt of steel and reduce emissions of approximately 100 kt of carbon dioxide.
- The company’s platform can be quickly and simply installed at project sites because it requires no specialist cranes or vessels.
- The platform’s unique geometry provides reduced draft in port, which means it floats higher in the water enabling the use of shallow ports.
- Through industrial innovation, the platform components can be adjusted to accommodate all forecasted offshore wind turbine sizes, including the current 15MW or greater capacities.
- Our platform can be produced anywhere in the world, supporting job creation through regionalized manufacturing.
When I look back on how offshore oil and gas platforms changed in the North Sea over a couple of decades, I’m not surprised to see this innovative design.
I wish the company the best of luck. But I don’t think they’ll need it!
Windeed’s Floater Solution Gets Bureau Veritas Nod
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Bureau Veritas has granted Approval in Principle (AiP) to Sweden-based Windeed for its low-weight and low-acceleration floater solution for offshore wind turbines.
These three paragraphs fill in more details.
The AiP is a significant milestone in the development of Windeed’s technology, which could offer competitive prices and lower levelised cost of energy (LCOE) compared to other solutions on the market due to its industrialised manufacturing process, the developer said.
Bureau Veritas provided testing and assessment to ensure the solution is safe, reliable, and ready for deployment.
The approval in principle is a testament to the quality and innovation of the company’s technology.
I have been waiting some months for a new more efficient float for offshore wind turbines and then Gazelle Power Systems and Windeed turn up with designs on the same day.
Pictures of Gazelle’s design are available on their web site, but Windeed’s web site is text only, although it does say this.
Our purpose is to provide superior technology and industrialization of floating offshore wind power, lowering costs and environmental impact, to meet the need of more and clean energy.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see other designs!
Irish Floating Wind Tech Developer Unveils Pilot Project In Portugal
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Dublin-based floating wind technology company Gazelle Wind Power (Gazelle) has partnered with the Portuguese renewable energy developer WAM Horizon to accelerate the development of a pilot project in Aguçadoura, Portugal, which will use Gazelle’s floating wind platform.
And this is the first paragraph.
Within the partnership, WAM will provide Gazelle with strategic advisory to implement the pilot project.
There is also a picture, which does not look like any other float for a wind turbine, that I’ve seen.
Gazelle Wind Power’s home page, has a series of pictures and an explanation of how it works.
The web site claims the technology is Light, Agile and Fast and gives a few details in this paragraph.
Introducing Gazelle’s hybrid attenuated mooring platform, an evolutionary step-change in the design of floating platforms. Lighter, smaller and more agile than current designs, the Gazelle delivers unmatched stability and capacity. Moreover, our design benefits from modularisation, time-tested manufacturing processes, and can easily be assembled at port facilities worldwide.
From my experience of modelling floating structures in the 1970s, I believe that there a lot more permutations and combinations of components, that will work as floats for wind turbines.
Gazelle Wind Power’s design, is one of the first of a new generation of designs.
If anybody comes up with an unusual design and needs someone to criticise or model its floating behaviour, I’d be happy to help.
Dublin Energy Start-up Targets $2 trillion Offshore Wind Sector
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Irish Times.
The article gives a few clues, as to what Gazelle Wind Power are about.
This is the sub-title.
Gazelle Wind Power raises $4m to develop its hybrid floating offshore wind platform
What is a hybrid floating offshore wind platform?
I have form in the subject of large floating structures, as I did the calculations for a Cambridge-based company called Balaena Structures, that was proposing floating oil production platforms.
The company failed and I got paid, but their ideas returned to obscurity.
However, from that brief interlude in my life, I believe that there are innovative floating designs that could benefit the wind power industry.
This paragraph sums up the platform.
Overall the company estimates its solution costs half the price of other platforms to manufacture and 60 per cent less in terms of installation fees, while providing savings well above €1 million per megawatt.
I’ll go along with that, as the Balaena was very affordable and very stable.
The company has also recruited some powerful advisors, as this paragraph shows.
Gazelle recently named an elite group of energy industry veterans to its board of directors that includes Dr Javier Cavada, chief executive of Highview Power, Pierpaolo Mazza, a former general sales manager at GE Power, and Connie Hedegaard, former minister of environment to Denmark.
I have a feeling Gazelle Wind Power could be on to something.
Does the presence of the chief executive of Highview Power mean they are developing a floating platform with energy storage?
I remember that Balaena’s platform was very stable and as it was for oil and gas production, it had plenty of processing equipment on top.
Certainly, a wind turbine in the megawatt range with power storage would be a useful system.
The Anonymous Widower 