Global assurance and risk management provider DNV has verified the hybrid floating wind platform developed by Gazelle Wind Power with a statement of feasibility.

Gazelle Wind Power's platform combines the features of tension-leg and semi-submersible platforms to enable deepwater wind farms up to 400 meters.

“Achieving DNV verification of our disruptive platform is a major milestone that validates the 12 years of research and innovation that has gone into this technology,” said Jon Salazar, founder and president of Gazelle Wind Power. “Our system, and technologies like it, will be key in global decarbonization goals and will have a significant impact on the growth of the floating offshore wind market.”

The Gazelle Wind Power platform uses 70% steel and is one-third the weight of other floating platforms, according to the company. The platform delivers 70% less horizontal movement than semi-submersible platforms and has a tilt of less than 1 degree, and has 80% less mooring tension load than tension leg platforms.

“Gazelle’s innovative mooring system is a completely new concept,” said Claudio Bittencourt Ferreira, business development director at DNV. “Achieving the Statement of Feasibility as part of the concept assessment defined in DNVGL-SE-0422 is a confirmation that Gazelle has demonstrated technical feasibility of the technology to deliver its targets in line with the requirements of our service specification that was developed to enable innovation in the marine renewables market.”

In August, Gazelle Wind Power announced that it raised $4 million to accelerate the development of the hybrid floating offshore wind platform, including $1.3 million in seed funding and another $2.7 million in strategic long-term financing to develop the company's first grid-connected demonstrator.

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