Floating wind turbine hints at bigger things
NEW BEDFORD – The sight of a small floating wind turbine visible from West Rodney French Boulevard in Clark’s Cove offers a glimpse into the future of wind technology.
It is supported by four floats, its four legs in a pyramidal shape. The legs all meet at a hub so that the turbine is held on two sides like the front wheel of a bike or a Ferris wheel. It also has three small blades. Between the floats is a 19foot square base.
It’s on a fluid loop with no grid connection and attached to a temporary mooring line with a permit from the New Bedford Port Authority. There are also three warning buoys surrounding it and signs that warn boaters to “Keep Back 100 Feet.“
T-Omega Wind CEO Brita Osmundsvaag Formato said the next step following Monday’s launch of this groundbreaking technology is to get a utilityscale prototype built and tested out in the ocean.
Their timeline is ambitious, she said: A fully certified utility-scale project conceivably could be ready by March 2028.
“Monday was a big step for us, but also a very big step for the wind-energy industry as we solve for a lot of the challenges that they’re currently going through, so it was a very exciting day for us,” she said.
She said T-Omega’s floating turbines can be built as tall as the fixed-bottom turbines now used in offshore wind farms. She said while bigger isn’t necessarily better, they are working on floating turbines of 10 megawatts or more.
How does a floating wind turbine work?
Formato joined T-Omega Wind, founded in 2020 by Andy Myers and Jim Papadopoulos, because she was impressed with the team and the technology that she said will bring big changes to the wind industry.
She said they started with a blank sheet of paper and designed the technology from the water up so it would be optimal for the ocean.
“It is wave-following and it follows the wind, so it floats on the waves,” she said. “It has a regular mooring, and this allows us, because we’re embracing the motion, to have a lighter structure, a shallower draft, and it uses less steel in production so it’s more affordable. “It allows us to tow it to and from the port for repairs and maintenance.”
T-Omega Wind has received grants from the National Science Foundation, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, CleanTech Open and the Net Zero Technology Centre (UK).
Formato joined T-Omega Wind about two years ago after spending 25 years working in the energy industry for large companies, starting out with Equinor in Norway and the United States and then working for Exxon-Mobil and Duke Energy.
She has been involved in renewables since 2007, when she worked on the acquisition of one of Duke’s offshore wind portfolios. She grew up in Norway with a love for the outdoors, particularly sailing, and said she understands the power of the wind and what harvesting the wind can do.
New Bedford Port Authority supports research project
In a news release, New Bedford Port Authority Executive Director Gordon Carr shared his interest in this new technology. “The Port Authority is pleased to be supporting this temporary small-scale research effort by T- Omega Wind,” he said. “The Port of New Bedford welcomes companies that are interested in taking advantage of our location and maritime industrial expertise to advance innovation. The project is also an opportunity to gain insights into potential floating offshore wind designs, so we can better understand and advocate for the most minimal impacts to marine life and commercial fishing from this new technology.”
What are the benefits of a floating wind turbine?
T-Omega Wind Chief Commercial Officer Dave Forbes said there are fewer risks with a floating turbine with the operations and maintenance technology that they are proposing.
He said there’s also dramatically less downtime, so unlike fixed-bottom turbines at sea that might require a manned crew to respond over several days, their turbines can be swapped and towed away in five hours or less.
He said there’s also less risk to workers and less financial exposure to steep increases in the costs of deployment and maintenance.
Forbes said as the equipment provider, once they have developed a utilityscale, 360-foot-tall turbine, T-Omega Wind would sell the turbine to an offshore wind developer just like GE sold turbines to Vineyard Wind for its offshore wind project.
The developer would then require the signing of a power purchase agreement with an electric utility to generate a set amount of power.
Forbes most recently served as COO of Halo Energy, a manufacturer of shrouded onshore micro-turbines.
MassCEC supports floating wind effort
Massachusetts Clean Energy Center CEO Emily Reichert also released a statement on behalf of the state economic development agency dedicated to accelerating the growth of the clean energy sector.
“MassCEC is glad to support T-Omega Wind in advancing its floating wind turbine technology through our AmplifyMass Program,” she said. “The development of offshore wind, both stationary and floating turbines, is critical to achieving Massachusetts’ climate goals. MassCEC’s AmplifyMass program helps innovative young companies like TOmega Wind accelerate the development of their climate solution and its impact on reducing greenhouse emissions.”