New tank tests for GICON® SOF confirmed
GICON’s research partner LWET receives funding from European Commission program Marinet2 for tank tests in Edinburgh, Scotland, scheduled for June 2020. The tests will validate and optimize the innovative self-installation of the cost competitive Tension Leg Platform (TLP) under development.
The Chair of Wind Energy Technology (LWET) at the University of Rostock, GICON’s research partner of the floating offshore platform GICON SOF, has received new funding for tank tests within the European Commission’s H2020 program Marinet2. Dr. Frank Adam, GICON’s head of the Offshore Wind Energy Department, is delighted and looks forward to these tests in Edinburgh, Scotland: "The new tests are very important for us as by now the focus is on the stabilization control of the floating substructure. In particular, the tests will examine the methods and control mechanisms with regard to the potential for stabilizing the gravity anchor and the substructure during the installation process. Therefore, we are glad and grateful to receive this support". The extensive tests are scheduled to take place in June 2020.
VIDEO - Lowering gravity anchor: youtu.be/YCw1fmrsOLg
Successful tests in 2017 and 2018
In 2017 and 2018, the GICON SOF researchers were already able to conduct successful tests with the floater. In 2017, for example, the entire TLP including wind turbine were tested in the offshore basin of LHEEA de Centrale Nantes. Various wind and wave tests were performed and, among other aspects, the TLP scale model withstood significant 10-year and 50-year wave heights. In a further test series performed in autumn 2018, the GICON SOF system was extensively tested in the Maritime Dynamics Laboratory of SSPA in Gothenburg, Sweden, focusing on installation and transport processes. "We were able to investigate the towing of the Tension-Leg Platform (TLP) with gravity anchors, the lowering as well as the pulling down of the SOF", says Dr. Frank Adam.
VIDEO - Lifting gravity anchor: youtu.be/orGs8TkQ2UU
On the way to reduced levelized costs of wind energy
The advantages of the GICON SOF are its stability, its cost-effective installation on site in the open sea and the novel modularized design. This combination plus a flexible supply chain reduces levelized costs of wind energy to under 40-80 Euro/MWh depending on the site and turbine size. A further advantage: by dispensing with pile driving in the seabed, this TLP is also setting an example in terms of environmental protection and CO2 emission reduction.
GICON is an incorporated group of independent engineering and consulting companies. The group operates under the registered trademark GICON®.