EDP Renewables (EDPR), Mitsubishi (through its subsidiary Diamond Generating Europe), Chiyoda (through its subsidiary Chiyoda Generating Europe), Engie and Repsol entered into an agreement to implement a floating offshore wind farm off the coast of Northern Portugal, known as the WindFloat Atlantic (WFA) project.
The project, located 20km off the Portuguese coast at Viana do Castelo, is planned to be operational in 2018 and will consist of three or four wind turbines on floating foundations, accounting for a total capacity of 25 MW. WFA will benefit from the support of the European Commission, through the NER 300 program, and of the Portuguese government through the Portuguese Carbon Fund. It was also selected for the InnovFin program by the European Investment Bank.
The consortium will use the WindFloat technology, an innovative semisubmersible foundation developed by Principle Power. This technology was already implemented in a first of its kind prototype called WindFloat 1 near Póvoa do Varzim. It comprises 2 MW Vestas V80 commercial wind turbine mounted on a WindFloat floating offshore wind turbine foundation.
The prototype has already produced more than 16 GWh over almost four years of operation – performing excellently through extreme weather conditions. Its successful results have been key for the creation of this consortium and the launch of the WindFloat Atlantic project, the aim of which is to demonstrate the economic potential and reliability of this technology, advancing it further in the path towards commercialization.
This project represents a key step forward in establishing the WindFloat technology as a leader in deepwater offshore wind power generation.