Arup appointed to support development of multi-rotor floating offshore wind project

It was announced on March 22, 2024, that Arup was appointed to support Wind Catching Systems (WCS) in the development of an alternative offshore wind project called the Windcatcher.

Furthermore, the Windcatcher is a project that aspires to facilitate 126 1 MW capacity wind turbines per single structure, measuring 300 meters in height and 350 meters in width.

The plan for this to be achieved is in three stages, where progressively larger scale models will be developed.

The first stage includes a Windcatcher consisting of seven to twelve turbines, while the second aims at about 40, and the final one at the production of a full scale model.

WCS claims that the concept of the Windcatcher could produce more power per swept area than conventional wind turbines, while also having a comparably greater swept area, factors that could result in x5 generation compared to conventional wind turbines.

In addition to this, having a structure as large as the Windcatcher could eliminate the danger of birds not identifying and colliding with them.

One more advantage would also be that the Windcatcher could facilitate elevators for the installation and maintenance of the turbines, which would result in eliminating the need for expensive specialized equipment.

In 2022, the company went into a strategic agreement with General Motors, which was followed by an investment from GM Ventures.

In 2023, Enova, a company owned by Norway’s Ministry of Climate and Environment, awarded the project’s development a second grant of about €0.9 million, while it had also awarded (WCS) an additional $2.1 million before that.

Arup is now stepping in to create an advanced simulation model, which will be used in the project’s future optimization studies.