Floating met mast for offshore wind measurements deployed off Makronisos

Greece’s Streamlined Naval Architects LTD in co-operation with ETME, ERGOMARE S.A. and Enalios Diving Center has deployed the FloatMast platform, an innovative floating met mast platform for offshore wind measurements, according to an announcement from Streamlined.

The floating met mast is located 250 meters off the coast of the uninhabited Aegean island of Makronisos, at a sea depth of 65 meters. The unmanned Mini Tension Leg Platform is permanently moored by tendons pulling down the structure towards the seabed.

The project, worth nearly EUR 3 million, has been co-funded by the European Innovation Council with around EUR 2 million under the Horizon 2020 program.

The project worth nearly EUR 3 million has been co-funded by the European Innovation Council

The wind measurements collected by FloatMast are according to the highest industry standard (IEC 61400-12-1) and provide the greatest net benefit to developers of offshore wind farms, according to sme.easme-web.eu.

The innovative platform can perform wind measurements at a 70% lower cost, by combining the best features from the two existing solutions: the meteorological mast and the Lidar remote sensor device on a stable floating platform.

FloatMast is re-usable and provides the added value of being re-deployed in other locations of interest. It can be used at all stages of the life cycle of an offshore wind farm, from the design phase to the development and operational phase and until the decommissioning phase, twenty years later.

The innovative platform can perform wind measurements at a 70% lower cost

The platform can also perform multi-purpose measurements as it can incorporate oceanographic instruments and environmental sensors, providing a fully integrated solution for a complete monitoring of an offshore wind farm site.

Project developers expect to deploy at least 15 FloatMast platforms by 2021 and reach a market share of up to 15%, offshoreWIND.biz reported.