TwinWind is a patented floating foundation which hosts two wind turbines and weathervanes around a single mooring point. Floating foundations in general allow offshore wind turbines to be positioned further away from shore in deeper waters when compared to conventional fixed bottom designs, reducing visual impact and improving wind conditions.
The TwinWind design specifically allows the foundations, rather than the individual turbine nacelles, to align with the wind. This innovative design allows for the deployment of more turbines per sea area, increasing the energy yield per acreage and reducing the environmental impact. TwinWind also reduces the total costs of cabling, steel, installations and maintenance.
Maximising production
One of the key challenges for wind farms is the wake effect (wind shadow) caused by “upwind” turbines, reducing the wind speeds for the “downwind turbines.” The TwinWind can be viewed as a micro wind farm of two turbines which weathervane so that neither of the turbines are effected by the wakes from upwind platforms.
Reducing cost
In addition to producing more energy per instillation than comparable single-turbine foundation wind farms, multiple TwinWind systems in a wind farm also require less investment for the same amount of output, increasing returns on capital for investors. Our main drivers towards low cost are:
1. Cables: The inter-array cabling of a Hexicon wind farm is reduced by approximately one third as more turbines can be located within a smaller area.
2. Foundation: Compared to a single turbine floating foundation, TwinWind entails twice the rated capacity, but requires correspondingly lower amount of steel on a per MW basis.
3. Installation: By having two turbines on one foundation, installation costs are reduced through fewer wet tows and mooring installations. TwinWind can also be assembly onshore and at quayside, including turbine installation for a fully commissioned system to be wet towed to the offshore site.
Motion performance
The TwinWind design offers sufficient stability to make use of standard commercial offshore wind turbines.