Gazelle Wind Power, the developer of a next-generation floating offshore wind platform, and Tugdock, developer of the world’s first road-transportable floating dry dock, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to co-develop a modular offshore wind assembly system.
Lucas Lowe-Houghton, chief revenue officer at Tugdock, said: “This exciting partnership is an industry-first, representing the power of collaboration to unleash the full potential of innovation. This collaboration will unlock great opportunities for both partners as well as help to accelerate the floating offshore wind industry.”
The design of Gazelle Wind Power’s platform includes a “revolutionary patented dynamic mooring system” that, it says, eliminates pitch and balance movement in response to the external forces of wind, waves, and tide. The platform’s modular design allows for scalable and adaptable configurations, which Gazelle says makes it a more affordable and accessible solution for deep water deployment. It is currently in discussions with a number of developers with the potential to secure in excess of 5GW of projects for delivery before 2035.
Jon Salazar, CEO of Gazelle Wind Power, added: “Working with Tugdock, we have the ideal way to assemble our modular platform, using minimal port space. While the Gazelle platform possesses a naturally low draft, there are significant benefits to assembling the modules on the Tugdock platform, which doubles as the assembly fixture and launch method, speeding up platform assembly and getting our platform into the water in a safe, and cost-effective way.
“This partnership is driving the production rates up and costs down. Our vision is to be the benchmark for Floating Offshore Platforms across global markets and make a significant contribution to net-zero goals. This new collaboration is a significant step on that journey.”
The first project for the new partnership will be Italy’s largest offshore wind farm, the Molise Offshore Wind Farm project in the Adriatic Sea, where the combined technologies will help install 70 turbines, aiming to generate 1.05 GW of power. The Molise Offshore Wind Farm will cover a total area of 219 square kilometres, and the turbines will be located in waters spanning depths of a minimum of 88 metres to a maximum of 126 metres. The first platform is planned to be launched in January 2028.
Shane Carr, CEO of Tugdock, said, “This pioneering partnership combines the advantages of two innovative modular technologies that complement each other perfectly. This represents a game-changing solution for developers and a major step forward for offshore renewable energy.”
