Floating Offshore Vertical Axis Wind Turbines: Opportunities, Challenges and Way Forward

Abel Arredondo-Galeana and Feargal Brennan
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Abel Arredondo-Galeana: Department of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Marine Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0LZ, UK
Feargal Brennan: Department of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Marine Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0LZ, UK

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 23, 1-24

Abstract: The offshore wind sector is expanding to deep water locations through floating platforms. This poses challenges to horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs) due to the ever growing size of blades and floating support structures. As such, maintaining the structural integrity and reducing the levelised cost of energy (LCoE) of floating HAWTs seems increasingly difficult. An alternative to these challenges could be found in floating offshore vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs). It is known that VAWTs have certain advantages over HAWTs, and in fact, some small-scale developers have successfully commercialised their onshore prototypes. In contrast, it remains unknown whether VAWTs can offer an advantage for deep water floating offshore wind farms. Therefore, here we present a multi-criteria review of different aspects of VAWTs to address this question. It is found that wind farm power density and reliability could be decisive factors to make VAWTs a feasible alternative for deep water floating arrays. Finally, we propose a way forward based on the findings of this review.

Keywords: vertical axis wind turbine; VAWT; floating offshore wind; offshore wind (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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