Modeling the Future of Floating Wind at TU Delft

TU Delft refines advanced simulations to boost accuracy in floating wind turbine design and validation

27 Feb 2026

Floating offshore wind is approaching a defining moment, and TU Delft is helping steer the technology’s next leap forward. Researchers there are using high-fidelity simulations to improve how engineers validate and design floating wind systems, a critical step as the industry shifts toward larger turbines in deeper waters.

Predicting how floating platforms behave under the combined push of wind and waves has long challenged designers. TU Delft’s work tackles this by building computational models that capture aerodynamic, hydrodynamic, and structural forces in more detail than the simplified engineering tools often used in commercial design.

At the heart of the research are high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics and fluid-structure interaction simulations. These techniques let scientists recreate turbine and platform behavior under turbulent sea states and extreme conditions. By comparing the output of standard engineering models with these richer simulations, researchers can pinpoint where load and motion predictions start to diverge.

Early results show that simplified models sometimes miss critical effects in nonlinear or complex environments. Rather than replace existing software, TU Delft’s goal is to refine the validation process and deepen understanding of how coupled systems behave under stress.

The timing is crucial. Developers are now designing turbines exceeding 15 megawatts, and floating projects are moving from prototypes to commercial scale. With larger machines come heavier loads, tougher mooring challenges, and a pressing need for more accurate digital tools.

Though high-fidelity simulations remain computationally demanding, they are gaining ground as research and design companions to faster, lower-fidelity models. TU Delft’s efforts highlight how advanced modeling can bridge academic insight and industrial application, reducing uncertainty as floating wind edges closer to mainstream deployment.