Project to Develop Cost-Reducing Technology for TLP Floating Offshore Wind Turbines awarded Approval in Principle (AiP)2024/05/21
JERA Co., Inc. (“JERA”), together with MODEC, Inc. (“MODEC”), Toyo Construction Co., Ltd. (“Toyo construction”), and Furukawa Electric Industry Co., Ltd (“Furukawa Electric”), is progressing the “Project to Develop Cost-Reducing Technology for TLP*1 Floating Offshore Wind Turbines” (“the Project”)*2 under the Green Innovation Fund Program of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (“NEDO”) (21 January 2022 Press Release).
In the Project, MODEC and Toyo construction has received the Approval in Principle (“AiP” *3) from Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (“Class NK”) for the “Floater and Mooring Design of Tension Leg Type Platform for Floating Offshore Wind Applications”. For obtaining the AiP, JERA has performed surveys and measurements at the planned verification site and has set the design conditions for the floating system design performed by MODEC and Toyo Construction.
The AiP is an achievement related to the integrated system design, which is one of the development outputs of the Project.
JERA is working with various partners to develop technologies for the purpose of realizing the renewable energy potential of Japan. Through floating offshore wind applications, JERA intends to accelerate the development of renewable energy and realize the vast potential for offshore wind energy of Japan.
*1 TLP Floating Technology
TLP (Tension Leg Platform) floating technology is a floating system that connects seabed anchors and the floating boy with mooring lines under tension. This system provides a very stable platform under extreme environmental conditions and allows for the installment of 15MW class WTG’s to reduce the cost of power generation. Additionally, the mooring system of the TLP type can reduce the required seabed footprint to about 1/1000 compared to other mooring systems, significantly reducing the impact on the incumbent fishing and shipping businesses.
*2 Project to Develop Cost-Reducing Technology for TLP Floating Offshore Wind Turbines
As part of the Green Innovation Fund Program for the realization of the Japan Government’s 2050 Carbon Neutrality Target, JERA together with three partners was selected for the “Cost Reductions for Offshore Wind Power Generation, Technoogy development project for basic manufacturing and installation cost reduction for floating wind turbines” on January 21st, 2022, to perform core technology development for two years.
The Project aims to establish component technologies for TLP floating, mooring, and subsea power transmission systems with the aim for commercializing floating win farms in the early 2030s.
The four companies will jointly conduct component technology development for about two years. JERA will conduct surveys and measurement of the planned verification site, design power generation facilities, and establish environmental parameters. In addition to conducting simulations and demonstrations of component technologies previously studied by each company – mooring foundations by Toyo Construction, floating and mooring systems by MODEC, and power transmission systems by Furukawa Electric – a basic plan for a 15 MW class power generation demonstration facility will be drawn up based on the design and environmental parameters provided by JERA. The four companies will also begin considering supply chains for mass production and const reduction with the aim of realizing commercial projects following the power generation demonstration.
*3 AiP
This is an abbreviation for Approval in Principle, which is a process of evaluating the early design of the technology based on drawings and design documents to confirm the technical feasibility from the perspective of existing rules and regulations.