Blue H Technology:
Blue H’s patented technology, which among other applications includes
its Submerged Deepwater Platform (SDP) and exclusive offshore rights to
Gamma’s two-blade turbine technology, is
an economically viable solution to deploy wind farms far out at sea,
virtually invisible to the naked eye from shore.
Towed with Two Simple Tugboats
(No expensive marine service equipment)
Advantages of Blue H's Technology
Blue H’s technology can provide clean renewable
energy while preserving the aesthetic beauty of our oceans and coastal
communities. These are some of the advantages associated with Blue
H's technology:
1. Scalability:
Blue H's technology can be deployed in water depths from 30 - 300
meters. With the ability to site offshore wind farms in a variety
of responsible locations, Blue H USA can scale operations as a
significant contributor to America's goals for energy security and
reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
2. Flexibility:
In the event that Blue H's technology becomes obsolete, then each wind
energy unit can be disconnected from its counterweight and towed back to
shore for retrofitting with the latest state-of-the-art technology at a
local shipyard.
3. Environmental Impact:
There are less environmental impacts associated with Blue H's offshore
wind energy units since they are anchored with a counterweight and do
not require invasive preparation of the seabed, installation, or
decommissioning procedures. Furthermore, with the ability to
install in a wide range of water depths, Blue H can avoid locations that
may have adverse impacts on marine mammals, fisheries, and avian life.
4. Comparative Cost
Advantage: Blue H constructs it units onshore and is not
constrained by weather conditions associated with offshore construction.
As a result, Blue H can carry less inventory and can create a streaming
manufacturing process similar to the automobile industry.
Blue H
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Has no assembly at sea
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Does not use expensive marine
service equipment
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Does not prepare the seabed
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Does not have high decommissioning costs
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5. Public Safety:
With its ability to install in a wide range of water depths, Blue H can
locate it offshore wind farms far away from airline routes, shipping
lanes, ferry lanes, and other areas with user group conflicts (i.e. sail
boats, recreational boats, dive vessels, etc). In addition, Blue
can avoid dangerous construction at sea and can locate its farms greater
than 12 nautical miles offshore, beyond FAA jurisdiction.
6. Preserve Aesthetic
Beauty of our Oceans & Coastal Communities: Blue H wind
farms will be far offshore virtually invisible to the naked eye.
Therefore, Blue H can avoid many problems that have plagued onshore and
pending offshore wind farms.
7. Access to Stronger, most Reliable, and less
Turbulent Winds: The U.S. Department of Energy's National
Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has determined that the stronger,
most reliable, and less turbulent winds are generally found in deepwater
locations far offshore from the U.S. coastlines. Higher average
wind speeds found in deepwaters can translate into dramatic increases in
annual kWh production in relation to shallow water sites.
8. Larger,
more Powerful Turbines: Blue H's floating turbine technology,
with full assembly on shore at appropriate seaside facilities, will
allow the company to deploy larger, more powerful turbines as it
continues to develop new technology. In particular, Blue H can
build larger units because it avoids the inland shipping constraints of
transporting large components (i.e. towers, blades, etc) over roadways,
bridges, and through tunnels.
Project
Belinda 'Red Area' Classified as Outstanding Average Wind Speeds
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Description
Blue H designed its Submerged Deepwater Platform (SDP) so that it can be
assembled onshore and then towed out many miles offshore, and positioned
in deep waters (30 m or more in depth). Each SDP consists of a
buoyant steel body, which is held ‘semi-submerged’ under water by
chains. The chains connect the buoyant body to a counterweight on
the sea bottom, keeping the buoyant body constantly tensioned.
Design of the SDP ensures that the uplifting
force is always larger than all other forces acting on the platform,
such as the weight of the tower and the wind energy converter, the force
of the wind and the waves, thus ensuring the stability of the platform
and preventing any dangerous inclination or oscillation. This
foundation type is called ‘soft-soft’ foundation because of its dynamic
behavior. Specifically, the soft-soft foundation attenuates
horizontal forces by slow movements in the same direction.
Submerged Deepwater Platform
Blue H’s Submerged Deepwater Platform technology has been adapted from proven technology used for
over 29 years in the oil and gas industries and is now being applied to
the generation of offshore wind power. Blue H has been working on the
development and perfection of its technology for the last 10 years.
Engineering, Procurement, and Construction
Gamma
Turbine
Early in 2007,
Blue H acquired the exclusive rights to Gamma's two-blade
technology which has several custom features making this technology
ideal for offshore use. Blue H's first commercial units will be
marinized adaptations of the Gamma 2000 turbine.
These two-bladers
will have active yaw control which does away with complex pitching
devices as well as adding additional robustness and simplicity to the
turbine, which is crucial in offshore operations.
Blue H turbines
will have a unique teeter hinge between the hub and the shaft which
dampens any variable aerodynamic forces on the blades that would
otherwise occur as a result of the two blades being rigidly
interconnected with each other through the hub. The teetering
hinge also precludes any significant vibrations from reaching the rotor
shaft, the nacelle, or tower.
Gamma 60 Turbine
Proven Technology
Blue H’s wind turbines will be on floating but stabilized
platforms; very similar to tension-legged platforms used in the offshore
oil industry, and will be anchored to the seabed with a counterweight
and chains which connect to the wind energy unit. The counterweights
that will be sunk to stabilize the wind energy units will act as
artificial reefs, benefiting marine life at the site.
NREL Predicts Tension-Legged Platforms for Floating Wind Turbines
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Blue H Technology
Advantages
Description
Gamma Two-Blade Turbine
Proven Technology
Submerged Deep Water Platform
Technology Overview
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