Impact of tropical cyclones on mooring designs of floating offshore wind turbines
Journal
Ocean Engineering
Journal Volume
341
Start Page
122490
ISSN
00298018
Date Issued
2025-12-01
Author(s)
Abstract
Floating Offshore Wind Turbines (FOWTs) are emerging as a crucial and sustainable solution for effectively harnessing wind energy in deepwater regions. While winds are an essential source of sustainable energy, extreme environmental conditions imposed by tropical cyclones can be a challenge to the economics and feasibility of the FOWTs' mooring systems. This paper evaluates the impacts of environmental components (i.e., wind, waves, and currents) on mooring line tensions, particularly in regions with tropical cyclones, typhoons and hurricanes. Mooring analyses are performed on a semi-submersible FOWT with a 15 MW turbine for six different regions: Taiwan, Japan, Gulf of Mexico, West Australia, North Sea and West Africa. Based on the results of the mooring analysis, the impacts of 50-year events on mooring designs are assessed, and the differences among regions are compared. It was found that these tropical cyclone conditions can generate high tensions that may impact and influence the mooring designs, causing one of the regions, Taiwan, to adopt a 3x3 pattern with a maximum size of mooring chain. As a result, the cost of a floater's mooring system may be higher and potentially make FOWTs economically challenging. This paper closely assessed the intriguing phenomenon of the tension spikes caused partly by interactions among wind, waves, and currents. A general assessment of mooring loads for these regions is provided as a reference for future design work.
Subjects
Floating wind
FOWT (floating offshore wind turbines)
Mooring design
Tropical cyclones
Wind
Publisher
Elsevier Ltd
Type
journal article