SWAY, which is planning to develop a 10-MW floating offshore wind turbine, has installed its first prototype off the coast of Bergen, Norway. The 1:5 scale prototype has a 29 m tower, which is constructed a bit like a floating bottle with most of the weight at the bottom moving the centre of gravity some distance below the surface. Above the surface, the tower measures 13 m. The structure weighs 22 tonnes. The prototype’s rotor diameter is 13 m, and it is designed so that the whole tower and turbine swivel according to the wind direction. SWAY is currently looking for a financial and industrial partner to bring the offshore wind turbine to the industrialisation stage.
(picture from: http://www.swayturbine.no/)
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