wiredinUSA February 2020

Image: EDPRENOVAVEIS

First of three floating turbines takes its place

The world’s largest (to date) floating wind turbine is in operation off the coast of Viana do Castelo, Portugal. The first of the three platforms that will form the WindFloat Atlantic offshore wind farm has been connected to the grid via a 20km cable. To withstand the movement generated by waves, wind and the spin of the turbines, Principle Power — WindFloat’s developer — has anchored the turbines to the seabed at a depth of 100m. Once all three turbines are in operation developers expect an overall capacity of 25MW.

After running a smaller prototype of the turbines for five years, as proof of concept, most of the construction of the turbine was carried out on land; this avoided many of the issues related to building floating wind farms. The turbines can be towed into position using standard towing craft, which is expected to make it easier to install the technology in other parts of the world.

wiredInUSA - February 2020

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