Dynamic Analysis of Anchor Loads for a Floating Offshore Wind Farm

Abstract Floating offshore wind turbines are subjected to hydrodynamic and aerodynamic loads, influencing the design of the anchor and mooring systems. A well-designed shared anchor system can reduce the needed number of anchors in a wind farm, potentially lowering costs. To facilitate a better understanding of the anchor loads, this study presents the dynamic simulation results of a prototype wind farm that consists of three 15 MW VolturnUS-S semi-submersible floating wind turbines in the North Sea. In the simulations, the wind turbines are parked, and collinear and misaligned wind and wave directions are considered. Compared with the anchors of a single turbine, the shared anchors in the wind farm experience a reduction in the peak anchor loads, and wind-wave misalignment may significantly increase the anchor loads. This study highlights the importance of considering multiple wind and wave directions and the misalignment in anchor load analysis, contributing to a better understanding of load distributions in floating wind farms aiding shared anchor system design.