WINDFLOAT ATLANTIC

WINDFLOAT ATLANTIC REPRESENTS IMPORTANT LANDMARK FOR THE FLOATING WIND INDUSTRY

WindFloat Atlantic is a 25MW offshore floating wind farm located 20km off the coast of Viana do Castelo, Portugal. Commissioned in June 2020, the project is considered to be the world's first semi-submersible floating wind farm.

WindFloat Atlantic uses cutting-edge technology from Principle Power, a US-based technology developer that focuses on the deep-water offshore wind energy market. This technology enables the installation of floating platforms in deep waters that were previously inaccessible, and where abundant wind resources can be harnessed. The platform's structure - with a height of 30 meters and a distance of 50 meters between each column - allows large 8.4MW wind turbines to be installed on a floating surface each.

This specific innovative wind farm includes three turbines installed on semi-submersible floating foundations anchored to the seabed. Their stability is due to the use of ‘water entrapment plates’ on the bottom of the three pillars, associated with a static and dynamic ballast system. WindFloat adapts to any type of offshore wind turbine. It is built entirely onshore - including the installation of the turbine - thus avoiding the use of scarce marine resources.

The commissioning of the first of the three platforms took place on 31st December, 2019. The 20-kilometre (12.43 miles) cable connecting the floating wind farm with the onshore substation in the Portuguese municipality of Viana do Castelo had been previously energised.

That same month the second platform was transported to the wind farm site from the Port of Ferrol in Spain as well for installation next to the first foundation.

On May 27, 2020, the project took another decisive step with the departure of the third of the three platforms off the coast of Viana de Castelo.

Bourbon Subsea Services was selected to install the three floating wind turbines, in close cooperation with Vryhof being responsible for the mooring solution. Vryhof's team has taken care of all aspects of the mooring package, from specifications to procurement, production follow-up, certification, integration and delivery. To maximise customer satisfaction Vryhof developed its own proactive operational excellence methodology, called Smart Integrated Mooring Management (SIMM).

The main advantage of the applied WindFloat concept is that it allowed Vryhof's mooring system to be pre-installed at sea (three sets of three mooring lines), while the floating platforms were assembled and pre-commissioned on land in a controlled environment. The complete systems were then wet-towed offshore and hooked up.