Since last September, my Senior Capstone Design project team (Dina Hertog-Raz, Leo Narbonne, Trent Blatz, Jadyn Fletcher) and I have been working nonstop to compete in the third edition of the Floating Wind Challenge organized by OffshoreWind4Kids. Our mission was to design and fabricate a moored floating structure capable of supporting a Vevor 400W turbine. We optimized it for stabilization and maximum energy generation, engineered to withstand wave motion, salt water, and other ocean factors long-term. Although we did not fabricate the turbine, we created a floatable structure, moored underwater, to support the turbine provided by OffshoreWind4Kids.
In this international competition, we were judged on five criteria: power generation, structural integrity, foundation and mooring, transportation and installation and cost efficiency. The collective points scored in each category determined our place in the competition. With the sponsorship of Bryce Aquino, we proudly dubbed our completed floating turbine “Project BryceFloat.”
Our team just returned from the final round of the competition held in Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône, France, where we moored our design in the very wavy ocean and watched it float alongside 11 other international teams’ turbines.
In the end, our team took 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹, with two competing teams tying for first! Congratulations to the Floating Wind Central Sailors team (Centrale Supélec in France) and the Wadatsumi Project team (Nippon Foundation in Japan)! Our team also scored the most points in the judging category of ease of transportation and installation.
The Project BryceFloat team had an amazing time exploring France on their own and visiting full-scale offshore floating turbines with the other competition teams. A huge thank you to the event sponsors:
Smulders
NIRAS
Jan De Nul Group
Seaway7
EDF Renouvelables
And to director Dr Ir William Beuckelaers for making this event possible and giving our team this amazing opportunity! #FloatingWindChallenge
