Technip Energies flagship floating wind design en route to stamp of approval 'by year-end'

Transitioning offshore oil & gas contractor Technip Energies’ maiden floating wind power concept, dubbed the INO12, has been anointed by classification body DNV as on track to receive key ‘approval in principle’ (AiP) certification this year.

The “high level review” of the 12MW design, a traditional three-column steel semisubmersible concept developed by subsidiary Inocean in Norway, was called an “important step” for the contractor as it re-enters a sector it left ten years ago with plans for a full-scale flagship slated to be in the water “no later than 2025”.

Willy Gauttier, vice president of Technip Energies’ floating wind business unit, said: "This is another important step towards the full class certification of our INO12 concept.

“Working with DNV on this AiP demonstrates that we are committed to delivering a compliant offering to our customers, as well as state-of the-art quality and performance standards for their floating offshore wind projects.

“In parallel, we already start the design and the scale up of our next products to address the fast-evolving floating wind market.”

Geir Fuglerud, director of offshore classification at DNV Maritime, stated: “This has been an excellent cooperation, where units from all the project partners in France, Norway and the UK have undertaken an extremely rigorous process to complete the AiP. We look forward to continuing to work on full class approval of the concept.”