Cost-effective floating vertical axis wind turbine for deep water offshore for renewable energy generation.

The IEA estimates the potential of offshore wind power at 420,000 TWh of electricity per year, that is, 11 times the global demand for electricity in 2040 [1]. However, much effort is needed to unlock this potential as the state-of-art offshore systems suffer from scalability challenges, high OPEX and CAPEX. There are two types of offshore turbines used today: bottom-fixed turbines and floating turbines. Both rely on the traditional Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT) design.

This project aims to demonstrate a radically different approach - the S2X turbine (1MW) that combines the Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) technology with an effective and smaller spar-buoy. The advantages are: A) Economic: -14% CAPEX; -22% OPEX; 46% DECEX; -20% LCoE, B) Technical - scalable design, and C) Environmental: safer for marine animals. The starting point for the project is the existing 30kW prototype. The successful 1MW demo will pave the way for the international roll-out of this technology.