A French floating wind foundation developer has conducted an in-depth review of potential sites for the US manufacture of its concrete floaters.
An in-depth audit of California’s harbour sites and port infrastructures reveals that Ideol’s uniquely compact and shallow-draft concrete floating wind solution can offer the highest levels of local content.
Ideol’s in-house construction and offshore operation experts conducted an in-depth review of all major California harbour sites and concluded that concrete hulls for commercial-scale windfarms (50 units or more) could be built and launched in at least five construction sites, with two being immediately suitable without any upgrades.
In addition, four sites were identified as suitable for wind turbine assembly and eight harbours are capable of storing mooring lines as well as hosting operation and maintenance bases.
On top of significantly reducing the carbon footprint of a project given the minimization of long distance shipping and logistics, being able to tap into a local and readily available labour, supply-chain and infrastructure is a definite asset for all developers looking at favourably engaging with local stakeholders and achieving the highest level of project acceptability. Further studies show that Ideol’s concrete hull not only offers the highest levels of local content but also the most competitive costs.
Paul de la Guérivière, Ideol’s CEO, has declared: “We’ve already demonstrated both in France and Japan that local content in excess of 90% can be achieved and we intend to pursue such business models when possible. We’re more than satisfied with the results of our review because it confirms our ability to facilitate projects’ acceptability while strongly limiting the carbon footprint of our floating structures. The same levels of local content in California are equally being explored at Ideol for our market-ready floating substation.”
Ideol, based in La Ciotat (France), was created in 2010 with the aim of developing both technically and economically viable floating foundation solutions for the offshore wind industry. Recipient of numerous innovation and entrepreneurship awards, the company benefits from the support of a large and prestigious panel of public and private investors. Its Damping Pool® design is said to be compatible with all existing offshore wind turbines.
By Jake Frith
