Efficient Multiline Anchor Systems for Floating Offshore Wind Turbines

Abstract

A mooring and anchoring concept for floating offshore wind turbines is introduced in which each anchor moors multiple floating platforms. Several possible geometries are identified and it is shown that the number of anchors for a wind farm can be reduced by factors of at least 3. Dynamic simulation of turbine dynamics for one of the candidate geometries and for two directions of wind and wave loading allows estimation of multiline anchor forces the preview the types of loads that a multiline anchor will need to resist. Preliminary findings indicate that the peak demand on the anchor may be reduced by as much as 30% but that anchors used in such a system will need to be able to resist multi-directional loading.