Over the last six months, Windcatcher has focused on further maturing its Windcatcher technology through the development of the 40 MW Windcatcher design. This design has now achieved an Approval in Principle (AiP) from DNV.
The technical development leading up to the AiP has been a joint effort with engineering partners Aibel and Arup, who have provided expertise in simulations and the design of offshore structures. This work has covered a range of engineering disciplines including structural and marine design, stability and hydrodynamics, mooring system arrangement, layout and technical safety, and transport and installation. As a supplement to the engineering work, a physical model test campaign was performed at Stadt Towing Tank in Måløy, Norway. The purpose of the campaign was to better understand how the Windcatcher performs in various wave conditions and to use this insight to validate and calibrate analysis models and assumptions.
