Hexicon Completes Model Test for Its Two-Turbine Floater

Hexicon has completed a model test of its two-turbine floating wind platform at the MARIN testing centre in the Netherlands.

The testing was part of the design work for the company’s demonstration project TwinWay, which will see the floating wind platform installed at Metcentre in Norway by 2023.

The model was tested in extreme weather and operating conditions, where the maximum wave height corresponds to 20 metres at full scale, equivalent to harsh North Sea conditions.

The TwinWay project, scheduled for 2023, is a pilot to commercialise Hexicon’s offshore floating wind technology, which comprises a floating foundation with the TLP type mooring system.

“The tests at MARIN have been successful and Hexicon’s floating foundation and mooring system have behaved as they should when exposed to harsh environmental conditions”, said Marcus Thor, CEO of Hexicon.

“As a next step, the extensive amount of collected data will be processed and compared to results from calculation models. We continue the work with the aim to conduct a pilot for our floating wind platform at Metcentre in 2023”.

The floating wind technology developer announced the demonstration project in Norway last month.

The test area is located off of Norway’s southern coast and Metcentre has applied for consent for a new, larger capacity of 85 MW, expected to be granted in 2021.

Hexicon has signed a conditional site exclusivity agreement with a reservation of 6 MW.

The Swedish company has also recently partnered with Bechtel on a project to build and install multi-turbine floating offshore wind platforms off the UK.

Earlier this year, Hexicon has also entered into an agreement with Aker Offshore Wind to together explore floating wind opportunities offshore Sweden.