Analysis of the Dynamic Responses of a Barge-Type Platform With Multiple Wind Turbines

Abstract In recent years, there has been significant growth in ocean exploration. Energy production is an essential component of a multi-purpose platform. Wind turbines are the most space-efficient power-generating systems. This work proposes a barge-type VLFS (Very Large Floating Structure) with multiple wind turbines for the bays or breakwater-protected regions. The current project uses two 1.5 MW WindPACT NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) wind turbines and VLFS utilized in the planning phase of Tokyo’s floating airport. Here, the length of the VLFS is sufficient to hold two wind turbines in cross-wind directions. Developing a fully coupled code that works with multiple wind turbines is difficult, as the modelling of wake interactions is challenging. As a result, this study uses a partially coupled methodology. This method uses a fully coupled code for a single wind turbine to estimate the loads at the tower bottom of the wind turbine. As a preliminary step, the fully coupled and partially coupled methods are verified for various load cases. Different ways of placement of wind turbines on the platform are studied for the two wind turbines. Three such configurations are proposed in the study, highlighting their various advantages over one another. These configurations are examined for their hydrodynamic performance.