Posted on October 28, 2021
Offshore wind supports manufacturer Gazelle Wind Power opened its first U.S. office in Austin, Texas. This is the company’s first office in the United States as it moves to capitalize on the country’s emerging offshore wind market.
Gazelle Wind Power’s floating wind platform was designed to be lighter and more flexible than other offshore platforms.
“The addition of this U.S. office is a significant milestone for Gazelle as we take our innovative technology to the global market. We chose Austin for our U.S. office because several leading sources rank the city as a top cleantech innovation hub, which gives us unparalleled access to potential partners,” said Jon Salazar, founder, and president of Gazelle Wind Power. “Austin also provides Gazelle with convenient access to the robust offshore wind market that is taking off in the Gulf Coast region and throughout the United States.”
The U.S. Department of Energy reports that a record-breaking 17 GW of new wind capacity was installed in 2020, bringing the nation’s cumulative total to 122 GW, accounting for 8.4% of total U.S. utility-scale electricity generation.
Gazelle views the offshore market as wind energy’s next development phase. Last year, the U.S. offshore wind energy pipeline increased by 24% to a potential generating capacity of 35 GW. The floating offshore wind market is projected to reach 250 GW by 2050, according to DNV.
Reaching the maximum amount of energy production requires developing wind farms in waters deeper than 60 meters with substantially larger turbines. But, at these depths, it’s harder to build, secure and maintain fixed platforms to the seafloor.
Gazelle’s hybrid attenuated mooring platform is designed and engineered by leading naval engineers to enable floating offshore wind production in deeper waters farther out at sea. Its platform design is a hybrid of the semi-submersible and tension leg platform designs. It uses approximately 70% less steel and is one-third the weight of other floating platforms.
