Principle Power has completed the five-year testing of the 2MW WindFloat prototype floating turbine, which was installed 5km off Aguçadoura in Portugal.
The company and its partners, EDP, Repsol, Portugal Ventures and A Silva Matos, said the prototype has met or exceeded all design expectations.
WindFloat has faced waves over 17 meters in height and winds exceeding 60 knots, while delivering 17GWh of electricity to the local grid, Principle Power said.
The final stage of the project will involve the decommissioning of the system.
“This activity will demonstrate the advantages of the WindFloat, relative to bottom-fixed offshore wind foundations, with regards to decommissioning including: reduced decommissioning risk, reduced costs and reduced environmental impacts,” the company said.
The system will be disconnected from its power cable and moorings, towed to a port facility in Portugal, and once at port, the system will go through a final inspection.
Principle Power said it will also evaluate possible alternatives for repurposing the unit.
The company added that the success of WindFloat has allowed the technology to evolve substantially, with current designs already underway for multi-unit wind farms with 5–8MW turbines from various suppliers.
It said it is now focused on its near-term projects in markets around the world, namely Portugal, the US, France, the UK and Japan.
Principle Power board member and EDP Inovação executive director Luís Manuel said: “The technology has proven to be reliable and competitive. Now we want to bring it to the next level through a multi-unit project.
“The WindFloat Atlantic project, with Portuguese state and the EU’s NER300 scheme support, is a 3-unit, 25MW array of WindFloat systems, already under an advanced stage of development here in Portugal. We believe many more floating offshore wind projects will follow throughout the world.”
Image: Principle Power
