One of the world’s first floating wind power plants – to be sited 20 kms off the coast of Viana do Castelo – has started being assembled.
As we write, the first tower of the three-tower plant is being transported on the high seas from Spanish Galicia.
The other two towers are being constructed in the port of Setúbal and will be assembled alongside the first tower in the next few months.
The structure – the début project of consortium Windfloat Atlantic – represents an investment of 125 million euros. When completed it will have a capacity of 25 MW, capable of producing enough electricity to supply around 60,000 homes per year.
The project has been financed by the European Commission, the Portuguese government and the European Investment Bank.
Windfloat Atlantic is a consortium of various companies: EDP, Repsol, Principle Power, Portugal Ventures and engineering group A. Silva Matos.
Its most innovative aspect is the active ballasting system of the platform which will dampen wind and turbine-induced motion and allow these kind of structures to be sited in previously inaccessible locations where water depth exceeds 40 metres.
Explains a statement put out by EDP: “Windfloat Atlantic uses state-of-the-art technology that minimises environmental impact and allows the production of eolic energy on the high seas in deep waters.
“This technology has board benefits that increase accessibility and improve cost-effectiveness”.
Hopes are that similar projects can be replicated ‘irrespective of their geographical locations’.
The world’s very first plant of this kind was the Hywind, inaugurated off the coast of Scotland in 2017.
