The largest and most powerful wind turbine to be used in a floating wind project has been towed out to sea and is now in place atop Principle Power’s WindFloat semi-submersible foundation off the Portuguese coast.
The MHI Vestas V164-8.4 MW turbine is the first of three that are due to be installed at the demonstration project. It was installed onto the WindFloat triangular platform at the quayside in Ferrol (northern Spain) before making the 250km journey to its final destination.
The pioneering project is designed to deliver vital learnings in installation and commissioning techniques, turbine performance and foundation performance. It has been developed by the Windplus consortium, which is jointly owned by EDP Renováveis, Engie, Repsol and Principle Power Inc.
The project is being supported by finance from the European Investment Bank and will have a capacity of 25 MW.
The Vestas turbines have a tip height of 190 m and are installed on WindFloat foundations 20 km from the coast.
