General Motors is using its GM Ventures branch to launch next-generation clean technology that supports its share of the global automotive industry, and the latest venture is insane. The firm led a round of funding of up to $ 10 million for a new floating wind turbine system that looks like a giant wall of dizzying spins and acts like a giant sponge that sucks up energy.
Floating wind turbines are appearing in the world
For those of you who are beginners in this topic, floating wind turbines are a relatively new addition to the field of offshore wind energy, which is in itself a relatively new development in the field of renewable energy.
Offshore wind farms made with conventional fixed-platform turbines located on monopiles are generally more expensive to build than their onshore counterparts, and the current shortage of maritime labor does not make things easier. However, the potential for expansion at sea helps to equalize financial conditions, as well as the proximity of large coastal population centers.
Also, wind turbines are not getting smaller. Onshore wind farms should be reduced in line with bridges, tunnels, crooked roads and other obstacles between the turbine factory and the construction site. Offshore wind turbines do not need any such consideration, depending on the availability of appropriate port operations.
This raises the question of why bother building floating offshore wind farms. Floating technology is generally more expensive than fixed platform construction, but site selection is a big attraction. More offshore locations are available to floating turbines, which require only an anchor to attach to the seabed. They can be found in deeper waters, where monopoly construction is impractical.
One platform, lots of floating wind turbines
As the floating wind supply chain matures, costs are reduced. Another cost-cutting maneuver is to locate more than one turbine on one platform, and that’s where the wind capture system comes in.
“The technology is based on multi-turbine technology and achieves its efficiency by maximizing buoyancy energy production, leading to more efficient surface use and lower LCOE,” explains WCS.
The multiturbine is an understatement. Judging by the illustrations on the WCS website, a typical platform will host dozens of wind turbines. WCS calculates that its fully equipped system can provide power equivalent to five 15-megawatt wind turbines.
Considering that each of these 15-megawatt wind turbines would require a separate installation, you can see where the idea of collocation is the potential savings in construction costs.
WCS also predicts that its construction system designed to save money will start working. According to the company, its floating wind turbine system does not require any specialized vessels or cranes, and is based on established technology in the offshore oil and gas industry. After the deck is floated, the rest of the installation includes standard construction equipment based on elevators.
The structure itself looks quite delicate, but WCS is counting on a project life of 50 years and significant savings in maintenance costs.
To gild a green lily, the collocation strategy means that a floating wind turbine would take up far less space than a conventional wind farm. WCS estimates that its floating wind turbines will take up 80% less space than a typical wind farm.
GM Hearts floating wind turbines
Under the leadership of CEO Mary Barr, GM has already gained a reputation for supporting clean electricity projects across the grid that will benefit the entire community. It is a step away from the standard approach of using renewable energy mainly or exclusively for the benefit of the company’s internal business, but it is obviously suitable for electric vehicle manufacturers, who have a direct interest in encouraging drivers’ trust in the state public network for charging electric vehicles.
The new investment in a floating wind turbine represents an opportunity for GM to expand its renewable energy footprint into new territory. As an impact factor on renewable energy, GM’s vote of confidence in WCS could also help attract more dollars into the area of floating offshore wind turbines.
GM Ventures’ new investment gives the company a foothold in the home field of WCS in Norway and pairs it with the Norwegian investment companies Ferd and North Energy, as well as the construction company Havfonn.
“As GM continues to move towards a fully electric future, it is crucial that we simultaneously initiate the transition of the network to low-carbon energy sources,” said Kristen Simen, GM’s Director of Sustainability. “GM Ventures’ investment in offshore wind farms with Wind Catching Systems represents an opportunity to accelerate innovative technology in the marketplace, advancing a cleaner, more reliable and resilient energy future.”
What else does GM have up its sleeve?
CleanTechnica follows GM in advanced energy storage space, but it seems to be just the tip of the iceberg of clean technology for GM Ventures.
In the field of clean energy and EV charging, the current portfolio includes the renewable energy company Empower Energies and the wireless charging company EV Powermat Technologies.
Additive production also receives praise through Seurat.
Returning to the field of energy storage, we find interest in Soelect’s next-generation fast-charging technology and SES’s new “anode-free” battery.
In the meantime, what else is floating in coastal wind farms?
If floating wind turbines still have to make up for something in terms of cost competitiveness, it probably won’t take long. In another new development, the British University of Dundee drew attention to a new system for anchoring floating wind turbines, which should keep costs in a downward spiral.
Although floating wind turbines have an advantage in site selection over conventional turbines, a research team in Dandy points out that the current state of anchoring technology is a limitation.
“The depths at which floating turbines can be installed are limited by the current anchor design, which leaves too much footprint on the seabed and limits the number that can be installed in challenging marine environments,” they explain.
The school was recently approached by Bruce Anchor Limited to rectify the situation and they seem to be on to something. The news about Bruce Anchor is a little detailed, but last year the school described a job doing anchoring at sea for wave energy developer Corpower Ocean and the company and Ternan Energy, which included this observation:
The team’s new anchors with vibro-installed anchors are being developed as an alternative to conventional resistance anchors, which are unable to establish the required tensile capacity that allows the wave energy converter to cope with the millions of waves it will face over its lifetime, and also to replace gravity base solutions and large diameter anchors that are also very expensive, structurally inefficient and require very large vessels to handle and set up. ”
Interesting! The team in Dundee notes that the process is cheaper and less disruptive to life at sea than alternative anchor technology for “pipes”.
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Figure: Floating multi-turbine wind turbine platform thanks to Wind Catching Systems.
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