Performance

WindFloat® technology achieves stability via a combination of waterplane area (footprint), draft, and column diameter. The three-column design is scalable to accommodate the largest offshore wind turbines, efficiently managing loads with a minimum increase in structural mass. 

While both WindFloat products – the WindFloat T and WindFloat F – are designed with a  shallow draft structure that allows turbine installation at most ports, the WindFloat F offers ultra-shallow wind turbine integration in ports as shallow as 9 meters.

The additional buoyancy of the pontoons on the WindFloat F also minimizes column diameter and footprint, creating more options within established supply chains.Permanent water ballast is used to lower the platform to its target operational draft for additional stability.

The smart hull trim system moves water from column to column to compensate for mean turbine thrust loads during operation, boosting performance and power yield.

While both WindFloat solutions are designed for exceptional dynamic stability, patented damping plates fitted at the bottom of each column on the WindFloat T minimize wave and turbine induced motion, enabling the platform to stay light while performing as if it was a much larger structure (hydrodynamic added mass). The WindFloat F achieves this same level of stability and performance through pontoon structures fitted between each of the three columns

The WindFloat® portfolio designs have ballast tanks located at the bottom of each column, allowing the draft of the platform to be adjusted between temporary and operational phases, providing the flexibility to install and commission wind turbines at most ports prior to towing the complete system to site. Once at sea, these tanks are filled with seawater to achieve platform operational draft, lowering the overall center of gravity and further increasing stability.

Principle Power’s patented smart hull trim system consists of a robust and fully redundant ballast system that moves water from column to column to compensate for changes in average wind velocity and direction to keep the tower’s mean pitch angle at zero degrees. Compared to fully passive semi-submersibles, the WindFloat® optimizes power production and reduces structural loads during operation. 

The system is entirely closed-loop, meaning no water is exchanged between the platform and the environment.

The smart hull trim system is highly efficient and, unlike fully passive floating platform designs, allows the WindFloat® to adapt to learn from its environment, boosting revenue generation over the course of the 25+ year project lifetime.