WindFloat Atlantic has become the world’s first classed offshore windfarm, after its three 8.4MW floating turbines were accepted by the ABS Class Committee, according to ABS's release.
The three ABS-classed, SEMI Submersible Type units designed by Principle Power housing MHI Vestas turbines make a total of 25 MWs of floating offshore wind power. WindFloat Atlantic, of which Ocean Winds is the majority shareholder, is continental Europe’s first larger scale floating wind farm, 20 kilometers off the coast of Viana do Castello, Portugal.
The landmark is the latest step in a journey that began with the earliest days of floating wind in Portugal when ABS supported development of the 2MW WindFloat 1 that was installed in 2012.
The WindFloat Atlantic project is developed by the Windplus consortium, which is jointly owned by Ocean Winds (50:50 JV owned and created by EDP Renewables and ENGIE), Repsol, and Principle Power Inc.
Thanks to their floating foundations, floating offshore wind farms are not subject to the same depth restrictions as fixed structures and can be at any depth. With the development of larger turbines above 10 MWs and research focused on shallow water moorings, the floating technology may even be an alternative to traditional bottom- founded technologies in intermediate water depths in the future.
ABS is the leading classification organization for floating offshore wind and continues to lead the development of design standards and concepts for floating offshore wind turbine foundations. ABS certified the first commercial-sized semisubmersible floating offshore wind turbine and released the ABS Guide for Building and Classing Floating Offshore Wind Installations in 2013. ABS was the first class society to venture offshore, certifying the world’s first mobile offshore drilling unit in 1958 and classing the first jackup, semisubmersible, drillship, FPSO, TLP and spar.
About Ocean Winds
OW is a 50-50 offshore wind joint venture, owned and created by EDP Renewables and ENGIE. Both companies believe that offshore wind energy has become an essential part of the global energy transition, leading to rapid growth in the sector and increased competitiveness. That is why they have included all their existing and pipeline offshore portfolio in the new company.
OW has a strategic advantage and is well-positioned to play a leading role in the offshore market. EDPR and ENGIE are combining their offshore wind assets and project pipeline in OW, starting with a total of 1.5 GW under construction and 4 GW under development, with the target of reaching 5 to 7 GW of projects in operation or under construction and 5 to 10 GW in the advanced development stages by 2025. OW primarily targets markets in Europe, the United States and selected geographies in Asia, from where most of the growth is expected to come.