This study aims at development of a cost-effective, floating offshore wind turbine. The prototype model considered herein is composed of (1) 2-MW horizontal-axis wind turbine (HAWT) of downwind type, (2) steel monotower with 55-m hub height above sea level, (3) steel-prestressed concrete (PC) hybrid SPAR-type foundation with 70-m draft, and (4) catenary mooring system using anchor chains. In order to demonstrate the feasibility of the concept, an at-sea experiment using a 1/10-scale model of the prototype has been made. The demonstrative experiment includes (1) construction of the hybrid SPAR foundation using PC and steel, the same as the prototype; (2) dry-towing and installation to the at-sea site at 30-m distance from the quay of the Sasebo shipbuilding yard; (3) generating electric power using a 1 kW HAWT; and (4) removal from the site. During the at-sea experiment, wind speed, wind direction, tidal height, wave height, motion of the SPAR, tension in a mooring chain, and strains in the tower and the SPAR foundation have been measured. Motion of the SPAR has been numerically simulated and compared with the measured values, where basically good agreement is observed.

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In this paper, dynamic response analysis of a Floating Offshore Wind Turbine (FOWT) with Spar-type floating foundation is presented. The FOWT mounts a 100kW down-wind turbine, and is grid-connected. It was launched at sea on 9th June 2012, and moored on 11th for the purpose of the demonstration experiment. During the experiment, the FOWT was attacked by severe typhoon events twice. Among them, Sanba (international designation: 1216) was the strongest tropical cyclone worldwide in 2012. The central atmospheric pressure was 940 hPa when it was close to the FOWT, and the maximum significant wave height of 9.5m was recorded at the site. In this paper, the dynamic responses of the platform motion, the stresses at the tower sections and the chain tensions during the typhoon event, Sanba (1216), have been analyzed, and compared with the measured data. Through the comparison, validation of the numerical simulation tool (Adams with SparDyn developed by the authors) has been made.

This study aims at development of a cost-effective floating offshore wind turbine. The proto-type model considered herein is composed of 1) 2MW horizontal-axis wind turbine (HAWT) of down-wind type, 2) steel mono-tower with 55m hub height above sea level, 3) steel-prestressed concrete (PC) hybrid SPAR-type foundation with 70m draught, and 4) catenary mooring system using anchor chains. In order to demonstrate the feasibility of the concept, on-sea experiment using a 1/10 scale model of the prototype has been made. The demonstrative experiment includes 1) construction of the hybrid SPAR foundation using PC and steel as same as the prototype, 2) dry-towing and installation to the on-sea site at 30m distance from the quay of the Sasebo shipbuilding yard, 3) generating electric power using a 1kW HAWT, and 4) removal from the site. During the on-sea experiment, wind speed, wind direction, tidal height, wave height, motion of the SPAR, tension in a mooring chain, and strains in the tower and the SPAR foundation have been measured. Motion of the SPAR has been numerically simulated and compared with the measured values, where basically good agreement is observed.

A floating offshore wind turbine platform supporting a 2MW downwind-type turbine was successfully installed offshore of Kabashima Island, Goto city, Nagasaki prefecture, Japan on October 18, 2013. It has been operating since October 28, 2013 as the first grid-connected multi-megawatt floating wind turbine in Japan. The spar platform has a unique feature, that is, the upper part of the spar is made of steel (as usual) but the lower part is made of precast prestressed concrete (PC). Such a configuration is referred to as hybrid-spar. In this paper, the design methodology of the hybrid spar is presented — including environmental design conditions, DLCs (Design Load Cases), dynamic analysis, fatigue analysis, etc. Also, the installation procedure is presented briefly.