Japanese trio developing next-gen floating wind platform

The Japanese MODEC, Toyo Construction and Furukawa Electric have partnered up to develop a next-generation floating wind platform and mooring system.

Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) selected the parties to develop the project as part of the public offering of research and development for technology to reduce CAPEX and OPEX of floating offshore wind turbines.

The three companies plan to reduce the overall cost of floating offshore wind turbines by adopting Tension Leg Platform (TLP) instead of the catenary mooring which is being demonstrated in Japan and overseas.

Taking advantage of platform stability by TLP, MODEC, Toyo Construction and Furukawa Electric will develop a mooring system with structural reliability required for a floater to be mounted with a large capacity wind turbine of over 10 MW and durable submarine power transmission line system.

The research and development will be carried out for two years, until March 2022.

MODEC is in charge of the TLP including the mooring system, Toyo Construction of the mooring foundation design and offshore construction, while Furukawa Electric is responsible for the subsea power transmission system.