Tension-leg platform

Although the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory explored the concept of TLPs for offshore wind turbines in September 2006, architects had studied the idea as early as 2003. MIT and NREL researchers planned a half-scale prototype south of Cape Cod to prove the concept. Computer simulations project that in a hurricane TLPs would shift 0.9 m to 1.8 m and the turbine blades would cycle above wave peaks. Dampers could be used to reduce motion in the event of a natural disaster. The prototype was installed in waters deep in order to gather test data on wind and sea conditions, and was decommissioned at the end of 2008. The turbine utilized a tension-leg platform design and a two-bladed turbine. == In literature ==

A fictitious tension-leg platform anchored in the Gulf of Mexico is at the centre of the plot of the novel Seawitch (1977) by Alistair MacLean. At the time of publication there were no commercially active TLPs, and the plot involves a conspiracy to destroy Seawitch by competing oil companies. The prologue to the novel explains the principles of operation. == See also ==