Via my monthly Berkeley engineering alum email this week, an interesting article about recent developments with offshore wind farms:
Offshore wind farms needed sea legs. But no one knew how to float the platforms way out at sea and keep 300-foot wind turbines steady and upright in the roll of deep ocean water and storms. That is, until Roddier and Cermelli came along. Their WindFloat design employs 80-foot-wide horizontal plates which, when submerged at the base of the structure, counteract the ocean’s forces, minimizing the vertical and angular platform motion. WindFloat also features an active ballast system and triangular design to help the structure maintain stability. The platform can easily be assembled onshore and towed out to sea, the pair say, where it will be connected to its mooring system.
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