NREL Computer Models Integrate Wind Turbines with Floating Platforms (Fact Sheet)

Far off the shores of energy-hungry coastal cities, powerful winds blow over the open ocean, where the water is too deep for today's seabed-mounted offshore wind turbines. For the United States to tap into these vast offshore wind energy resources, wind turbines must be mounted on floating platforms to be cost effective. Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) aresupporting that development with computer models that allow detailed analyses of such floating wind turbines.