TouchWind and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines are planning to strengthen their alliance for floating offshore wind technology.
In 2022, TouchWind and MOL had already signed a memorandum of under-standing (MoU) for the joint development of floating wind technology with a primary focus on the further development of TouchWind’s tilting angled one-piece rotor floating wind turbine. Following the progress of development and testing by TouchWind, both parties agreed on closer collaboration towards the next-stage development of the floating turbine.
At this moment TouchWind is installing a small scale prototype, with a rotor diameter of 6 m, at Fieldlab Green Economy Westvoorne. This fieldlab facilitates research under water and near shore for innovations that contribute to a green economy and is located on the northbank of the Oostvoorne lake in the Southwest of the Netherlands. Testing is scheduled to start from May onwards.
Founder and CEO of TouchWind, Rikus van de Klippe, explained: “During the field testing in the lake of Oostvoorne, we want to test in particular the installation, anchoring, mooring, and ecological impact of the floating wind turbine. How does the small scale prototype behave under the conditions on the lake? What influence does the wind turbine have on the existing underwater ecology and on avifauna?”
Masayuki Sugiyama, Executive Officer responsible for Wind Power Projects Unit in MOL, stated: “These tests and their results will lead to the further optimisation of TouchWind’s floating wind turbine concept. The achievements from the tests will raise the project to the next stage. We see great potential in this innovative concept which can realise higher utilisation rate and the efficiency of wind farms as well as lower-cost wind turbines.”
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