New design for offshore wind farm has lots of fans

Details: Wind Catching Systems scrapped the traditional Dutch windmill design — a pole and three giant blades — in favor of a 1,000-foot-high, grid-like network of smaller turbines that spin faster, generating more energy.

• One of its floating Wind Catchers can produce enough electricity to power 80,000 European homes, the company says.

Context: The world's first floating wind farm opened in 2017 off the coast of Scotland, using a different design, according to Fast Company, which tipped us off to the concept.

What's next: Wind Catching Systems plans to deploy a prototype in the North Sea soon but has its eye on the U.S. too.

• "The areas outside the coast of California would suit our system perfectly, with strong winds in deep waters near the coast," CFO Ronny Karlsen tells Axios via email. That won't happen before 2025.