The test model was based on the design for a full-size platform designed to comply with the new DNV standard for floating wind turbine foundations, and optimised for Marin’s test turbine, which models a 5MW unit with a 126-metre rotor diameter.
The scale model underwent tests to simulate offshore conditions representative of UK round 3 conditions, characterised by water depth of 55 metres, tide range of 7.5 metres and extreme significant wave height of 8.2 metres.
The Marin test programme was part of the £4 million (EUR 4.7 million) front-end engineering design (Feed) study awarded to Glosten in March by the UK’s Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) for an offshore floating platform demonstration project.
A full-scale prototype of the PelaStar TLP is being built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast in partnership with Alstom, which is supplying its Haliade 150-6MW offshore turbine.
According to the ETI it could be deployed at the grid-connected wave hub test facility off the coast of Cornwall early in 2015.
"We’re excited about reaching this important milestone on schedule," said PelaStar director William Hurley. "When we complete the ETI Feed project by the end of the year, we will be well positioned to execute the next phase of the project: building and installing the full-scale 6MW floating turbine."
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