Page 20: of Marine News Magazine (April 2023)

19 21

Feature

Offshore Wind

BW Ideol

N S , N CEW EASCAPE EW HALLENGES

By Tom Ewing ffshore wind energy planners are giving close bines offer the chance to take advantage of rich wind areas review to ? xed-tower systems in order to extend in waters too deep for ? xed turbine construction. Floating lessons learned to ? oating wind towers, under towers, though, present new and different and additional development now. In the U.S., ? oating towers technical and maritime challenges. Once resolved, howev-

O have been most closely associated with plans for new wind er, ? oating technology would make accessible WEAs with energy areas (WEA) in the Paci? c, off of California and strong and constant wind energy.

maybe Oregon and Washington. But important research This emerging industry and technology were the fo- is also taking place in Maine, at the University of Maine, cus of the most recent annual Floating Wind Solutions because of deep ocean Atlantic areas there, and ? oating (FWS) conference held in Houston, January 30 – Febru- towers may also be used in the Gulf of Mexico. ary 1. The FWS conferences provide an opportunity for

As most readers likely know, ? oating wind energy tur- project leaders to focus on the industrialization and com- 20 | MN April 2023