Background
The I2FLOW project adresses two priorities from the WEAMEC Roadmap: marine growth and SHM regarding floating offshore wind.
This project awarded in the WEAMEC International Research Call is a collaboration between Université de Nantes involved in many subjects for Marine Renewable Energies, University of Massachussets Amherst involved in floating offshore wind technology development for over a decades and the CETEAL company developing a semi-submersible platform in concrete for floating offshore wind called XCF.
Scientific advances and innovation
I2FLOW project addresses these topics by optimizing the design and increasing the acceptability of FOWT farms in three different ways:
- first by optimising design and integration of “biohuts” for local species of fish in a floater of FOWT (developed by CETEAL) for reducing naturally the quantity of marine growth, therefore the quantity of required material for ensuring the structural reliability,
- second by analysing how these new concepts will increase the social acceptability by local communities (residents, fishermen, environmental protection organizations),
- third by mutualising the anchors and monitor these anchoring systems, therefore reducing the operational costs (cost of installation) and the spatial footprint.
Expected technical and economic impact
This project will produce a series of raw data on biofouling and mooring mutualisation that will have to be analysed and then extrapolated for an industrial application to the semi-submersible XCF developped by CETEAL.
Key project milestones
- October 2020 - Start of the project
- December 2023 - End of the project
