A guyed support structure design for a 4.5 MW wind turbine in 50 m water depth is presented. The design has significant technical and economic advantages over conventional support structures. A guyed support structure is suitable for a wide range of water depths and soil conditions and can be standardised to a greater extent than known structure designs. The whole structure, tower, rotor and nacelle can be installed as a single lift without requirement for heavy pile driving equipment. Furthermore, the natural periods of the structure can be fine-tuned by adjusting the guy pretensions to avoid resonance with the rotor. In a comparison with a conventional tower-on-tripod solution, the guyed support structure is shown to weigh less than a third, which will result in significant savings in installed cost.
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