SOLUTION / PUBLIC SOURCE RECORD
OO-STAR floating offshore wind turbine concept
- Published 30 June 2022; updated 30 September 2026; estimated reading time 2 minutes. Status is “Under development”; categories are Offshore wind (Balance of plant) and Energy.
- OO-STAR is a semi-submersible floating foundation concept developed by Dr.techn.Olav Olsen AS for offshore wind turbines. It is intended to support large turbines in harsh conditions and in deep-water areas unsuitable for fixed-bottom foundations.
- The concept addresses fixed-bottom limits tied to water depth/seabed suitability and the cost or difficulty of assembling foundations in deeper water. The page says about 80% of wind resources are in deep waters and describes durable, cost-effective floating foundations as a design challenge.
- OO-STAR can be fully assembled at a quay using land cranes in only 10 metres of water, then towed to the site by standard offshore vessels and connected to pre-laid moorings.
- The design supports modular fabrication by local contractors worldwide, with standardization and mass production as industrialization opportunities. It can be built from concrete, steel or both to suit local fabrication, cost and durability needs; concrete is described as enabling local content in countries without steel fabrication yards.
- The page says the design can scale to turbines well above 15–20 MW without assembly/installation size constraints. Larger generator capacity is expected to lower cost per MWh, though this is stated as a prospective effect.
- Intellectual property is owned by Floating Wind Solutions AS, which the page says was fully acquired by French company Bouygues Travaux Publics. Dr.techn.Olav Olsen was founded in 1962 and is described as a structural and marine consultancy and leading designer of offshore concrete structures; it belongs to the Norwegian Offshore Wind Cluster.
- Market context is a dated forecast: global offshore wind market estimated at USD 27 billion in 2017 and expected to reach USD 55 billion by 2022.
- Linked to SDG 7, Affordable and clean energy, through the concept’s potential to improve floating-wind economics.
- Contact: Erik Løkken Walter, Head of Section Renewable Energy, elw@olavolsen.no. Phone number is behind a collapsed reveal control. Company: DR TECHN OLAV OLSEN AS, Vollsveien 17A, 1366 Lysaker, Norway; olavolsen.no/en.