In addition to being the first offshore wind turbine in Portugal, this is the first offshore wind turbine to be installed without the use of any heavy lift vessels or piling equipment at sea. All final assembly, installation and pre-commissioning of the turbine and substructure took place on land in a controlled environment. The complete system was then wet-towed offshore using simple tug vessels.
The Vestas V80-2.0 MW turbine installed on the WindFloat is capable of producing enough electricity to power 1,300 households. The floating offshore turbine is located 5km off the coast of Aguçadoura, Portugal, and has already produced in excess of 1.7 GWh.
The WindFloat represents a new era in offshore wind permitting utilities to target the highest quality wind resources, independent of water depth. In addition, projects can realise significant cost and risk reductions as a result of the onshore fabrication and commissioning scheme.
Strong partnerships at sea
The successful installation and on-going operations of the WindFloat in Portugal is the result of hard work and foresight on part of the WindPlus joint-venture, comprised of Vestas Wind Systems A/S, EDP, Repsol, Principle Power, ASM, and InovCapital including a subsidy from the Innovation Support Fund (Fundo de Apoio à Inovação – FAI). Repsol has recently joined the Windplus joint-venture as a significant shareholder bringing additional offshore experience and operational capabilities to the project team.
“Vestas has pioneered the wind industry and is continuously striving to find new ways of lowering the cost of energy in offshore wind whilst increasing the business case certainty for our Customers. Floating foundations are one of the solutions with the highest potential for harvesting wind in deeper waters, and the Windfloat project was a highly interesting possibility for us to help explore this area within offshore wind. We have been working in close collaboration with EDP and Principle Power on the project and we are very pleased with the successful integration of the turbine and the WindFloat platform. It has been an interesting and valuable experience and we are proud of the satisfactory results achieved so far,” states Vestas CEO, Ditlev Engel.