UK Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Test Facility (UKFOWTT)

英国目前拥有最大的海上风电装机容量，2017年占全球装机容量的36%。2019年第三季度，海上风电行业贡献了英国9.8%的电力。在2019年的海上风电行业协议中，该行业承诺到2030年建设至多3000万千瓦的海上风电，雄心勃勃地将出口增加5倍，达到26亿GB。气候变化委员会建议到2050年装机容量达到75千兆瓦。到目前为止，几乎所有安装的海上风力涡轮机都安装在水深达60米的固定底部支撑结构上。鉴于在这种水深的合适地点有限，浮式海上风力涡轮机(FOWT)在未来十年将变得越来越重要，以实现海上风电行业交易目标，并帮助实现英国到2050年实现温室气体净零排放的目标。这笔行业交易突显了政府需要制定框架，以支持FOWT等技术的进步。物理模型是开发浮动海上风力涡轮机的关键工具，大多数开发指南都建议使用物理模型。在技术准备水平(TRL)在1到3之间的新概念开发的早期阶段尤其如此。在实验室受控环境中进行大规模测试模型设备具有许多优势。这些包括证明(或其他)新颖的设计概念，在系统变化的条件下进行测试的能力，以及在发生概率较低的条件(即极端事件)下进行测试的能力。在按比例缩放的FoWT模型上进行运动和载荷的定量测量比在全尺度海上进行的更容易和更准确。定性观察也更容易观察到。如果操作正确，这些测量和观测可以导致设备设计和概念的演变，并减少代价高昂的故障机会；如果设备最终部署在海上，以及当设备最终部署在海上时。普利茅斯大学海岸实验室(www.plymouth.ac.uk/shore-lab)是一家最先进的研究机构，使用比例物理模型研究海浪和海流与近海和海岸结构物的相互作用。它容纳了海洋盆地，一个35米x 15.5米的水箱，底部可抬起，可以在0.5米至3米的水深进行测试。该项目将在海洋盆地内建立UKFOWTT-UK浮式离岸风力涡轮机测试设施。除了海岸目前可以提供的海浪和海流发电外，UKFOWTT还将为海岸增加风力发电。这将包括一组轴流风扇，安装在横跨水箱宽度的龙门架上，能够产生高达10米/S的风速，模拟阵风，并具有可控的风廓线。发电机将可以从水面上垂直移动到大约1米以上。它将相对于水池旋转+/-30度，从而能够调查波浪/水流/风/模型对齐的影响。UKFOWTT的主要目的是使与漂浮离岸风有关的主题的基础和应用研究成为可能。这将是英国独一无二的设施，能够同时进行风、浪和流的系统物理模拟实验。从物理模型收集的数据可以提高对基本物理的理解，支持分析理论的发展，并验证高级数值模型。这也是一种测试新概念和新概念的低风险方法。UKFOWTT提供了相关的工具来支持这些研究。UKFOWTT还将支持海洋和海岸工程学科的其他部门的研究，包括石油和天然气部门、浮动波浪、潮汐和太阳能、自动驾驶船舶、发射和回收作业以及海岸防御。

The UK presently has the largest installed capacity of offshore wind, accounting for 36% of global capacity in 2017. The offshore wind industry contributed 9.8% of the UK's power in the 3rd quarter of 2019. In the 2019 Offshore Wind Sector Deal, the sector committed to building up to 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030, with an ambition of increasing exports fivefold to £2.6bn. The Committee on Climate Change has recommended an installed capacity of 75 GW by 2050. Nearly all offshore wind turbines installed to date have been mounted on fixed bottom support structures located in water depths up to 60 m. Given the limited availability of suitable sites at such water depths, Floating Offshore Wind Turbines (FOWT) will become increasingly important over the next decade to achieve the Offshore Wind Sector Deal goals and to help achieve the UK target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The Sector Deal highlights the need for government to develop frameworks to support the advancement of technologies such as FOWT.Physical modelling is a critical tool for the development of a floating offshore wind turbine and is recommended in most development guidelines. This is especially true at early stages of the development of new concept with a technology readiness level (TRL) between 1 and 3. Testing model devices at scale in the controlled environment of a laboratory has many advantages. These include the proof (or otherwise) of novel design concepts, the ability to test in systematically changing conditions and the ability to test in conditions which have low occurrence probabilities (i.e. extreme events). Quantitative measurements of motions and loads on scaled FOWT models can be made with much greater ease and accuracy then at full scale at sea. Qualitative observations are far easier to observe as well. If done correctly these measurements and observations can lead to the evolution of device designs and concepts and reduce the chance of costly failure; if and when devices are eventually deployed at sea.The University of Plymouth COAST laboratory (www.plymouth.ac.uk/coast-laboratory) is a state-of-the-art research facility for the study of wave and current interaction with offshore and coastal structures using scaled physical modelling. It houses the Ocean Basin, a 35 m x 15.5 m tank with a raisable floor that can enable testing at water depths between 0.5 and 3 m. This project will establish the UKFOWTT - UK Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Test facility within the Ocean Basin. In addition to the wave and current generation that COAST can presently deliver, UKFOWTT will add wind generation to COAST. This will consist of a bank of axial fans, mounted on a gantry spanning the tank width and have the ability to generate winds up to 10 m/s, model gusting and have a controllable wind profile. The generator will be moveable vertically from just at the water's surface to approximately 1 m above. It will be rotatable +/- 30 degrees relative to the basin, enabling the influence of wave/current/wind/model alignment to be investigated. The primary purpose of UKFOWTT is to enable both fundamental and applied research in topics related to Floating Offshore Wind. This will be a unique facility within the UK, enabling systematic physical modelling experiments with wind, wave and currents simultaneously. Data collected from physical modelling can improve understanding of the underlying physics, support development of analytical theories and validate advanced numerical models. It is also a low risk method of testing new and novel concepts. UKFOWTT provides the associated instrumentation to support these studies. UKFOWTT will also support research in other sectors of Ocean and Coastal Engineering disciplines, including the Oil and Gas sector, floating wave, tidal and solar energy, autonomous vessels, launch and recovery operations and coastal defenses.