The Windplus consortium, which is jointly owned by EDP Renováveis, ENGIE, Repsol and Principle Power Inc., is installing the largest floating wind turbine in the world: an 8.4 MW unit classified by ABS, a global provider of classification and technical advisory services to the marine and offshore industries.
The project will comprise three of these ABS-classed machines, designed by Principle Power and housing MHI Vestas turbines, giving a total of 25 MW of capacity. The development is located 20 km off the coast of Viana do Castello, Portugal.
It is scheduled to come online at the end of this year.
“Floating turbines enable us to reach offshore wind resources in water that is too deep for conventional bottom-fixed turbines,” says Christopher J. Wiernicki, ABS chairman, president and CEO. “It is breakthroughs such as this that will make a vital contribution to the global transition to clean energy.”
The development is based on the same principles as the original Principle Power-designed concept, Windfloat 1, that was installed offshore Portugal in 2011.
“Principle Power is very pleased to work with ABS, once again, in the framework of the WindFloat Atlantic project, building on the successful collaboration of the WindFloat 1 prototype,” says Steven Barras, chief technical officer at Principle Power. “WindFloat Atlantic represents a major milestone for the floating offshore wind industry, as it is the world’s first semi-submersible floating wind farm.”
