Until a few years ago, the offshore wind industry was limited by the seabed characteristics of countries seeking to generate wind power, where only those with shallow coastal waters of around 40 m or less could implement fixed offshore arrays. But in just a few years the game has changed: floating offshore turbines that are anchored to the seafloor are now entering commercial production and opening up deep sea areas where the wind is powerful enough to generate low carbon energy.
No one is more convinced than the UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who made history in October 2020 by setting a world-leading target for his country of 1 GW of floating offshore wind power by 2030. In this podcast we find out how the game is changing and what challenges lie ahead for this fast-growing industry.
This episode was made in partnership with Engineering Matters.
Photo courtesy of Principle Power. Artist: DOCK90