Floating ocean turbines proposed
Offshore wind farms have been built, but only in shallow water near coasts, and one naval architect wants to go much farther out by placing turbines on floating platforms, a release from the American Institute of Physics said.
Dominique Roddier of Marine Innovation & Technology of Berkeley, Calif., has proposed a platform design dubbed "WindFloat" based on existing gas and oil platform designs.
Roddier and his and colleagues published a feasibility study of the design in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, published by the AIP.
Testing of a small scale model in a wave tank showed the platform is stable enough to support a 5-megawatt wind turbine producing enough energy "to support a small town," Roddier said.
A full-size prototype being built in collaboration with electricity company Energia de Portugal "should be in the water by the end of 2012," Roddier says.
Related News
China power cuts: What is causing the country's blackouts?
BEIJING - China is struggling with a severe shortage of electricity which has left millions of homes and businesses hit by power cuts.
Blackouts are not that unusual in the country but this year a number of factors have contributed to a perfect storm for electricity suppliers.
The problem is particularly serious in China's north eastern industrial hubs as winter approaches - and is something that could have implications for the rest of the world.
Why has China been hit by power shortages?
The country has in the past struggled to balance electricity supplies with demand, which has often left many of China's…
