Overview of FOWT Demo Projects Cost and Analyses of Hull Design Features

The potential of many novel concepts in any industry goes unnoticed when nobody invests their time and money in them. However, some floating offshore wind turbines (FOWT) have gathered attention and persuaded investors due to the successful completion of a demonstration project. This paper provides an in-depth analysis of how demo projects around the world were born, what made them successful, and proposes ideas for a demo project in Taiwan. The TaidaFloat, a semi-submersible FOWT floater with slight innovations, requires a demo project to showcase its potential. The paper presents an example platform with a parametric design approach, addressing the problem of scaling down the project to demo size and constraining heave and pitch motions. The floating turbine is designed with a local supply chain capability in mind and a mooring system is proposed with a line weight reduction priority due to the limited anchor handling tugs in Taiwan. This paper provides insight into how a demonstration project can be carried out in Taiwan or locations with similar conditions across Asia–Pacific.