The project MooringSense aims at reducing operational costs and increasing efficiency through the development of an efficient risk-based integrity management strategy for mooring systems based on an affordable and reliable on-line monitoring technology. The proposed solution will be enabled by the development of a low-cost smart sensor for FOWT motion monitoring, a Mooring System Digital Twin (DT) model, Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) techniques, as well as control strategies for mooring condition management tolerance at turbine and farm levels. The monitoring technology proposed will replace the existing unreliable and expensive monitoring systems based on load cells in the mooring lines by a combination of a robust motion sensor and numerical models. In addition, measurements will enable the development of more efficient operation and maintenance strategies, including optimized control. MooringSense’s consortium strength covers the full value chain, with a proven track record in the Offshore Wind and Oil and Gas Industries, and supported by experienced research institutions, the project will start from current partner’s technology to develop an innovative cost-efficient mooring integrity management enabled by Global Navigation Satellite System technology, coupled numerical modelling, control engineering and machine learning, with both increased efficiency of the overall resulting system as well as reduced operational expenditures, when compared with known incumbent alternatives.

The overall objective of the WHEEL project is to fully demonstrate and bring to a precommercial Technology Readiness Level (TRL) a revolutionary floating wind technology excellently suited for deep water locations, effective industrialization strategies, breakthrough cost reduction and minimized carbon footprint. This shall enable a radical step forward for LCoE reduction, whilst also addressing scalability, harbour infrastructure suitability and availability, and the sustainability & circularity of floating offshore wind. Development and demonstration needed to reach the pursued TRL will be achieved through the design, installation, certification and testing of a fully operative 6MW Pilot unit, which will showcase and demonstrate the breakthrough advantages that the WHEEL technology can deliver to the floating wind industry. It will be installed in a deep-water location in the PLOCAN testing area (Canary Islands, Spain), where it shall be thoroughly monitored along a period sufficient to underpin the commercialization and bankability of the technology. The WHEEL project pulls together a Consortium of renowned European companies and research institutions with extensive experience and a spearhead position in the renewables and marine industry. This multidisciplinary team joins forces to complete the full demonstration of such a disruptive technology by integrating complementary expertise fields and capabilities which effectively cover all key areas of floating wind systems in pursuit of the ambitious objectives of the project.

To meet EU net zero targets requires a six times increase in offshore wind deployment rate, primarily in deep seas where floating offshore wind (FOW) is needed. To achieve this growth requires FOW to be economic, sustainable and supported by a wide supply chain. TAILWIND is focussed on station-keeping systems of FOW, which comprise mooring lines and anchoring systems. The project will unlock identified opportunities for cost reduction, reduced environmental impact and material use, and also supply chain diversification. TAILWIND will integrate new experimental evidence, novel technologies and innovative methodologies, across mooring lines and anchors, and will quantify the resulting benefits for the overall floating system design. All innovations will be sustainable-by-design, integrating environmental, societal and economic benefits. For mooring lines, new synthetic rope technologies will be mechanically and chemically tested to demonstrate their suitability for small-footprint ‘taut’ moorings, validating new response models. For anchoring, geotechnical centrifuge testing and advanced soil element testing will underpin two advances: (i) new response models for the long-term loading particular to FOW, and (ii) the validation of novel anchors types including cluster anchors that are “silently” installed from small vessels and are suited to shared moorings. The new technologies for mooring lines and anchors will allow smaller and lighter station-keeping systems, manufactured and installed by a wider supply chain. TAILWIND will distill the models into system optimisation tools, unlocking further floater optimisation and cost reduction. Finally, an integrated life cycle assessment will quantify the economic, social and environmental impact of TAILWIND’s technologies. TAILWIND unites a diverse consortium of 12 organisations from 8 European countries, located across the emerging FOW development regions, and spanning academia, consulting, construction and manufactu

Europe is currently in a transition away from its dependency on Russian gas towards a fully renewable, reliable, and low-cost energy system by 2050. To achieve this target, large-scale renewable energy projects are essential. However, the transition is limited by several factors such as onshore space availability to deploy GW-scale projects, supply chain disruptions, and concerns from various stakeholders around visual pollution and space use. Offshore floating PV (OFPV) can deliver hundreds of GWs in Europe by 2050 while resolving above challenges. In areas with a fast-expanding offshore wind sector (e.g. North Sea), OFPV can be combined with wind inside multi-source farms. This enables the extraction of up to 9x more energy per km2 and better utilization of the infrastructure due to 10-20% more full-load hours, while leaving space for other stakeholders as fewer wind parks and electrical infrastructure are needed for the same amount of electricity production. In parts of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea with low wind resources, also stand-alone OFPV can help to achieve high penetration of renewable energy. Nautical SUNRISE will remove the last barriers of OFPV to deliver these benefits. A 5 MW grid-connected, multi-year offshore demonstration of a highly competitive OFPV system and its components inside a commercial wind farm will provide the trust needed for the upscaling of the technology. Prior to the demonstration, its technical reliability will be validated in the most extreme conditions through laboratory measurements, wave-wind tank tests, and modelling studies. The cost reduction achieved through design improvements will be quantified in concrete business cases and should enable an LCOE of <148 €/MWh, making OFPV financially viable. Additionally, the measurement campaign at the OFPV demonstration, large-scale environmental modelling, and life-cycle assessment including circularity will help to understand the overall effect on the environment.