The Atlantic Float Project

Floating Offshore Wind Technologies for the Atlantic Frontier

The project aims to provide solutions for floating wind turbines to operate in harsh Atlantic conditions, through understanding the impacts of Atlantic conditions and improving the design and performance of floating wind farms.

Project Objectives

AtlanticFloat has several objectives for the provision of solutions for floating wind turbines’ operations in harsh Atlantic conditions.

The project aims to evaluate the readiness of Floating Offshore Wind (FOW) for Ireland’s Atlantic waters by focusing on platform motion, structural and mooring design, and human factors for onboard work. It involves developing two Irish technologies—a floating platform and a mooring system—to reduce the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) and mitigate risks for FOW in the North Atlantic. The study will assess how platform stability impacts structural design through physical and numerical model testing of three floating platform types, with one meeting specific criteria. It will analyze the optimization of mooring systems to improve FOW platforms’ responses to various sea states and extend maintenance windows. Additionally, the project will examine the effects of platform motions on staff working conditions to create design guidelines and determine working limits for typical floating platforms in Atlantic conditions. Collaboration with stakeholders will address critical issues and share knowledge with policymakers and the public to support FOW policy and acceptance in Ireland. Finally, the project aims to keep Ireland at the forefront of Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) research by developing new methodologies and publishing results in international journals.

Project Outputs

AtlanticFloat will provide info on the readiness of FOW for Ireland’s Atlantic Waters, involving the deployment of Irish technologies to support FOW and assessing their functionality and impact.

Support Atlantic Float

Get involved and support the AtlanticFloat project through signing up to the project mailing list to receive project reports and participate in surveys. Visit the project website and follow the project’s LinkedIn page also.

A key audience that the AtlanticFloat team want to hear from are FOW developers – the project will benefit from the input of FOW developers and their engagement throughout the development of the project.

More information: 

• Duration; March 2024 - February 2026
• Contact us: research@windenergyireland.com