BW Ideol has unveiled its standardized foundation for floating offshore wind, ready for mass production to accommodate the needs of the growing sector.
With over 22 GW already awarded in Scotland, around 8 GW in the USA, and several GW currently being awarded or in the tendering phase elsewhere in the world, floating wind is now entering an industrialization phase.
With the aim of accompanying and driving the process, BW Ideol has presented a standardized floating foundation product - based on the Damping Pool solution in operation since 2018 in France and Japan.
This universal floating foundation is optimized for all meteocean conditions prevailing on the main floating wind markets, with three product classes adapted to different environmental conditions.
It is compatible with all 15 MW+ wind turbines currently available, according to BW Ideol.
The product is compact, with dimensions limited to 54 meters, and shallow draft below 12 meters in operation.
It can be easily scalable to the next 20 MW+ wind turbines when available, the company said.
BW Ideol also unveiled its manufacturing line blueprint, scalable and replicable on multiple port infrastructures, for the mass production of concrete floating foundations.
The blueprint has a demonstrated capacity to produce up to one floating foundation per week, according to BW Ideol.
“The floating wind market is at a crossroads today: tens of gigawatts will need to be built in the coming years, requiring a change in paradigm from the floating foundation suppliers.
“We believe that adopting an approach similar to that of wind turbine manufacturers is necessary: offering a single and standard product, suitable for all geographies and turbines available on the market, produced in series based on manufacturing line serving multiple projects, so that developers can truly commit and know where they are heading,” said Paul de la Guérivière, Founder and CEO of BW Ideol.