By developing a design toolset and reference designs for large-scale U.S. floating offshore wind farms, the Floating Offshore Wind Array Design project will inform design decisions and help ensure cost-efficient and responsible deployment.
Wind Energy Technologies Office
September 15, 2022
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An array of floating offshore wind turbines with mooring systems and power cables at three different water depths.
Large-scale floating offshore wind farms will be key contributors to meeting federal and state offshore wind energy targets. However, designing large arrays of floating offshore wind turbines—along with their anchors, mooring lines, and subsea power cables—represents an unprecedented engineering challenge that depends on local site conditions.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory today launched a 3-year, $3-million Floating Offshore Wind Array Design project, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which will develop a set of modelling tools to optimize designs for floating offshore wind farm arrays and develop several reference array designs for U.S. floating offshore wind farm sites.
This project announcement supports the Floating Offshore Wind Shot, which aims to drive U.S. leadership in floating offshore wind.
Learn more about DOE’s plan to advance floating offshore wind energy:
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White House launches floating offshore wind initiatives to deploy 15 GW, power 5 million homes, and lower costs by 70% for goal of 30 GW by 2035. -
Learn about how the Floating Offshore Wind Shot plans to accelerate breakthroughs for more abundant, affordable, and reliable clean energy solutions. -
The FLoating Offshore Wind ReadINess (FLOWIN) Prize, a $5.75-million competition, is designed to help develop a domestic supply chain and accelerate market readiness of floating offshore wind energy designs in the United States. -
Floating offshore wind potential offers more than two times the energy equivalent of annual U.S. electricity consumption. -
The Floating Offshore Wind Array Design project will inform design decisions and help ensure cost-efficient and responsible deployment. -
An NREL study will outline a strategic network of U.S. West Coast ports and port infrastructure upgrades. -
The U.S. Department of Energy's Wind Energy Technologies Office funds research nationwide to develop and deploy offshore wind technologies. -
DOE Announces $1.6 million for a jointly funded project supporting the coexistence of offshore wind with bats on the West Coast. -
The National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium (NOWRDC), which was established with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), has selected five new projects to receive a total of $3.5 million for ocean coexistence and transmission. -
PNNL will conduct a literature review of West Coast offshore wind transmission research to date. -
ARPA-E intends to announce $31 million in funding through phase two of its ATLANTIS program.