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Phoenix666 [soylentnews.org] writes:

Floating wind turbines for offshore use are seen by many as embodying the future of the sector: they circumvent the problem of unsuitable seabeds and may even cost less than grounded alternatives. A consortium working under the FLOATGEN banner is looking for a share of the pie with the first-ever floating wind turbine to be set-up in the Atlantic close to the French coast.

FLOATGEN is looking to pioneer the expected burgeoning of offshore floating wind farms in European waters. To do so, it will set up a 2 MW turbine in the Atlantic Ocean, at the SEM-REV test site located 12 nautical miles from the city of Le Croisic [phys.org]. The seven-strong consortium hopes that this groundbreaking set-up—on a site which features an electrical substation connected to the national grid—will demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of floating-wind turbines and enable their development in windy and deep waters that are currently not commercially viable.

The demonstrator is using a cost-efficient, ring-shaped floating platform patented by Ideol. It boasts novel hydrodynamic properties that, according to its manufacturer, 'make its performance exceptional compared to other floating platforms.'

How long before Brexit Britain seizes the turbines and anchors them off Jersey?

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