Can Kincardine Floating Turbines Collect Necessary Air For Wind Energy? [An Explainer]

SCOTLAND - Five turbines rise above the North Sea ten miles off the coast of Aberdeen, Scotland. Each is as tall as the Canary Wharf huge buildings in London's Docklands. Kincardine is considered as the planet's largest floating wind farm. It aids in the resolution of an engineering puzzle. Its creators believe it demonstrates how offshore wind might become a genuinely global energy source.

The seafloor abruptly drops near offshore in parts of the world, preventing traditional offshore wind turbines from being used. These are erected from the sea floor on concrete foundations and can only be deployed in relatively shallow water, up to roughly 60 meters each. The solution is obvious: build turbines on floating platforms. But consider the terrifying pressures these structures can withstand, according to Energy Central.

The Kincardine wind farm's turbines must defy the North Sea's biggest seas and powerful thunderstorms. The science's success is based on Britain's experience in maritime technology, which it perfected while developing North Sea oil and gas reserves. Each turbine is backed by three giant cylindrical floats. They're coated bright yellow but also welded into a 67-meter-long triangle podium.

How Do Wind Turbines Work?

Wind turbines operate on a simple basic premise: rather than using energy to create wind, as a fan does, wind turbines utilize the wind to create power. The wind rotates the engine blades of the turbine around with a rotor that drives a generator, which generates energy. The wind is a type of solar energy created by a series of three contemporaneous events: the energy from the sun heating the atmosphere, imperfections on the earth's surface, and the earth's rotation.

According to the US Department of Energy, wind turbines convert wind power into electricity by utilizing the aerodynamic force generated by the propeller blades, which function similarly to an airplane wing or rotor blade. The pressure of the air on one edge of the blade lowers when the wind blows across it. Lift and drag are produced by the variation in air tension between the two surfaces of the blade. Because the lift force is greater than the drag force, the rotor spins. The rotor is related to the generator, both directly (if it is a direct drive turbine) or via a gear and a sequence of gears (a gearbox), which speeds up the spinning and allows for a smaller and lighter generator. This conversion of aerodynamic force to generator rotation produces electricity.

The Goal of Wind Platform Technology

According to Greg Campbell-Smith of Principle Power, a UK firm that invented the platform technology, this isn't a passive structure. Wind, as well as sea conditions, must be accommodated by the floats. According to Mr. Campbell-Smith, amid high gusts, the structure "heels" or bends away from the wind. To counterbalance the framework and position the turbine at the appropriate wind angle, a system of pumps and valves redistributes liquid counterweight between both the three floating cylinders.

Weighted subsea cables coupled with massive anchors ensure that the platform is securely fastened to the seafloor below the surface. The Kincardine plant, according to Principle Power, demonstrates floating wind's potential. It claims to create enough electricity to supply 35,000 British households each year.

However, it confronts intense competition. Floating wind platform designs are being developed by businesses from all over the world.

The United States government announced $50 million in new financing last month to encourage American entrepreneurs to deploy 15GW of moveable wind in US seas by 2035. According to the White House, the goal is to reduce expenditure by 75% and "help the US leadership on offshore wind." There is undoubtedly a sizable potential market. The Climate Change Committee (CCC), the UK's independent climate consultants, estimates that almost half of the 100GW of wind energy expected to be deployed by 2050 would be on raised platforms.

(Photo : BBC/KEVIN CHURCH)
”Kincardine is further showing the readiness and commercial potential of floating technology,” Aaron Smith, Chief Commercial Officer, Principle Power, said.

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Possible Market Competition

Following the UK offshore wind industry group RenewableUK, the technology may generate £43 billion in economic activity and employ up to 29,000 people.

As well as the global outlook would be even brighter. Two-thirds of the US offshore wind potential is estimated to be in water depths, 80% of the European subsurface is only approachable via floating equipment, and a significant portion of the sea off Japan is equally deep.

According to RenewableUK, the global pipeline of drifting wind turbines has more than quadrupled in the previous year and now stands at 180GW. Floating wind is expected to be a £400-5000 billion worldwide industry by 2050, according to the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, a UK research organization for offshore wind technology.

Blowing Opportunities of the Floating Wind Farm

The primary issue right now is the expense. Such technological innovation is costly. Floating wind costs nearly the same per kilowatt hour as new nuclear electricity. However, with exception of nuclear power, costs are expected to fall as the industry expands. Prices for solar panels have dropped by 90% since 2010, as the method has been widely adopted.

Conventional wind energy has also witnessed significant cost reductions. However, the market warns that funding will be required to fulfill the promises of this new technology. Deep ports with large workstations are required to enable the fabrication and assembly of the massive floating structures.

Petroleum and natural gas platforms are typically one-time orders, whereas floating offshore wind turbines will need to be built on a "production line." The largest floating wind energy will have 100 platforms or more. The UK government has pledged £160 million to improve the country's port infrastructure, but RenewableUK says more investment is required.

And, while the United Kingdom was the first to effectively deploy floating wind on a large scale, the country's capacity to reap the benefits of its efforts is limited. Boris Johnson famously wished for the UK to emerge as the "Saudi Arabia of wind," owning the majority of the country's energy business, but his statement was always false. The majority of turbines in the UK are manufactured by British employees, but in manufacturers and on wind farms it is mostly owned by foreign companies. Furthermore, the sector is unwavering in its belief that drifting wind provides big potential for the UK.