Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd has obtained approval in principle (AiP) from the Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (Japan Maritime Association) for its floating offshore wind power generation facility, in collaboration with Principle Power. 

Many areas in the seas surrounding Japan are deep, making the use of floating structures crucial for expanding the introduction of offshore wind power generation. However, challenges remain for the commercialisation and social implementation of floating offshore wind power generation, including cost reduction and the development of domestic supply chains.

The floating facility that has now obtained AiP utilises the WindFloat® TC floating foundation developed by Principle Power, a company in which Tokyo Gas has invested. Principle Power possesses technology to control the attitude of the wind turbine and the entire floating foundation to optimise power generation, and several floating offshore wind farms using their floating technology are currently in commercial operation in Europe.

Tokyo Gas is proceeding with basic design and technical verification based on Principle Power's floating foundation technology, in accordance with Japanese laws and standards and severe meteorological and oceanographic conditions. For this facility, Tokyo Gas adopted Principle Power's semi-submersible floating structure with a centre column to accommodate 15 MW-class wind turbines. In addition to coupled analysis of the wind turbine, floating foundation, and mooring system, tank tests were conducted to reproduce wind, wave, and tidal conditions in actual sea areas to verify the validity of the analysis model and design methodology.

 

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