Comparative Hydrodynamic Analysis of Catenary and Tension Leg Moored Floating Offshore Wind Turbine
AbstractOffshore wind energy is a powerful renewable energy source. The floating platform systems are being developed to increase the capacity of installed wind power, and to take advantage of the high wind energy potential on the offshore fields. This study is focused on the design of an offshore floating platform system and on hydrodynamic analysis of the platform mooring system for a 5 MW reference wind turbine. The hydrodynamic model of the system has been developed and the hydrodynamic analysis has been applied to the several alternative designs. Behaviour of the floating platform and the mooring system under different sea conditions were analysed using a commercially developed computer program considering the different mooring systems including the catenary mooring and the tension leg. The effect of different mooring systems on the motion and mooring load characteristics is presented and discussed in detail.