Located 4000 meters off the northern Portuguese shoreline in approximately 50 meters of water, a pioneering piece of floating machinery is delivering up to 2MW of wind-generated electricity shoreside.
Classed by Houston-based ABS, the WindFloat Aguçadoura project is the first offshore wind deployment in the world that did not require heavy lift equipment offshore. Final assembly and pre-commissioning took place in a controlled shoreside environment. This installation also is the first deployment of a semisubmersible structure supporting a commercial-size wind turbine.
ABS design review engineers in Houston and ABS surveyors on site at the fabrication facilities in Portugal worked together with the developers and builders during the design, fabrication and installation phases of the project.
ABS certification of the semisubmersible and the mooring system was based on the applicable sections of ABS Offshore Rules and Guides and the ABS Guide for Building and Classing Offshore Wind Turbine Installations. The tower and the turbine were not part of the ABS certification.
The WindFloat is the result of the cooperative efforts of the partners that make up the WindPlus joint venture, an international group led by Portuguese power provider EnergÃas de Portugal (EDP), which, through its Renewable Energy division, is the world’s third-largest supplier of wind energy, and the Spanish oil giant Repsol. Other Windplus JV partners are Principle Power Inc., a US energy technology developer based in Seattle, Washington, and a holder of the Windfloat patent, two Portuguese companies, a steel fabricator A. Silva Matos, and a Portuguese State venture fund InovCapital. The Danish wind turbine producer Vestas Wind Systems provided its V-80 2 MW turbine for the project.
“Up until today, all offshore wind farms have been based on bottom fixed foundations in water depths less than 30 m,” says ABS Offshore Account Manager Lars Samuelsson. “As we go deeper, floating offshore wind turbine foundations may become a cost-effective alternative.”
ABS Chairman Robert D. Somerville attended the inauguration of the Windfloat on 16 June 2012. “As wind demonstrates massive potential as a source for renewable energy, ABS is proud to partner with projects such as the WindFloat,” Somerville says. “With our decades of offshore experience, we have a great existing body of knowledge that we can use to develop guidelines for the next generation of projects that capture growing alternative energy sources such as wind.”
The U.S. Department of the Interior has announced a substantial offshore wind energy lease sale set for October 29, 2024. The sale will cover eight areas off the coasts of...
(Bloomberg) — The price to rent a deepwater drilling rig may climb to near record levels if demand from oil companies continues to increase in the coming years, according to the head...
Equinor’s floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) for the Johan Castberg field has been successfully anchored in the Barents Sea, marking a significant milestone in Norway’s offshore oil industry....
September 17, 2024
Total Views: 1077
Why Join the gCaptain Club?
Access exclusive insights, engage in vibrant discussions, and gain perspectives from our CEO.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.