Offshore staff
OSLO, Norway — Hydro, an aluminum and energy company, and World Wide Wind AS, a company developing a floating wind turbine, have signed a letter of intent to explore the use of aluminum in the renewable wind industry.
The two Norwegian companies are partnering to develop floating wind turbines with a design specifically meant for offshore conditions. The goal is to use sustainable and recyclable materials in the construction, including aluminum.
The collaboration comprises detailing of turbine design including the use of aluminum, production of prototypes and building a consortium of industrial partners.
Wind turbines used for offshore floating wind have more or less the same design as turbines meant for land-based wind. In effect the companies are moving a land-based technology offshore.
World Wide Wind is developing a new type of floating wind turbine for deepwater, which the company said has significant benefits relative to current technology in terms of energy production, cost, scalability and environmental footprint. The new design provides an opportunity to use aluminum components in parts of the wind turbine structure, World Wide Wind CEO Trond Lutdal said.
Hydro sees the potential for increased aluminum in many industries, including wind power.
Each party will assign resources to form a collaboration team, who will plan and detail relevant activities and actions.
World Wide Wind’s integrated floating wind turbines are scalable up to 40 MW—2.5 times current wind turbines—and will use less materials and have a smaller CO2 footprint than conventional turbines, the company said.
01.06.2023
