Dutch floating wind pioneer GustoMSC platform design stamped 'bankable' by DNV

Modular semisubersible design gets technical and commercial assessment greenlight from classification body as offshore oil veteran starts diversification into new market

. GustoMSC Tri-Floater.
. GustoMSC Tri-Floater.Foto: GustoMSC

Dutch marine engineers GustoMSC’s Tri-Floater floating wind concept has been given DNV’s stamp of approval as “bankable”, moving the modular triangular platform a key step closer to market.

The ‘concept verification and technical and commercial assessment’ of the semisubmersible design, which has been devised for 15MW-plus nameplate turbines, ranged over an “evaluation of [the Tri-Floater] with regards to fabrication, transport, installation and operation phases”, said pair said in a statement.

Barend Jenje, GustoMSC’s floating wind division commercial director, said: “Having successfully completed DNV’s reviews brings us closer to exploit the potential of floating wind and its key contribution to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all,” said .

He added that the contractor’s long track-record developing floating platforms for the offshore oil & gas industry, meant it was “particularly well-positioned to contribute to the successful development of this new technology”.

“The completed technical and commercial assessment is an overall review of the concept from a ‘bankability’ perspective, taking into account evaluation of the concept with regards to fabrication, transport, installation, and operation phases,” said GustoMSC in a statement.

The “international design” semisubersible from GustoMSC – an early mover in the floating wind space but without a first unit in the water – is a shallow-draft concept featuring novel ‘damper boxes’ for added stability and buoyancy that is engineered to be turbine-agnostic.

Jenje highlighted that the “in-house capabilities” at GustoMSC in bringing the Tri-Floater to market and into first projects would be helped by parent company, energy industry giant NOV’s “track-record in developing and delivering large-scale, complex industrial projects and has transferable in-house experience from mooring and electrical cabling”.

The floating wind market is currently dominated by three first-generation designs: Equinor’s Hywind spar, Principle Power’s WindFloat semisubmersible and BW Ideol’s ‘damping pool’ barge platform, but there are a number of new-look concepts in prototype testing including X1Wind, Saitec's SATH and Stiesdal Offshore Technologies TetraSpar, the last which started flowing power to the grid this week.
The Global Wind Energy Council expects 16.5GW of floating turbines to be in the water by 2030, a dramatic increase from the 6.5GW it was anticipating only a year ago, with most of that growth coming in the second half of the decade when the sector, which currently has just over 100MW in place, is tipped for dramatic lift-off.
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Published 3 December 2021, 14:44Updated 10 December 2021, 00:08
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