Spanish floating offshore wind developer X1 Wind has closed its fourth strategic funding round, bringing Grow Ventures and Catalan public investment agency Avançsa into its shareholder structure as the company moves towards deployment of its pre-commercial platform.
Grow Ventures led the round and will hold about 8% of X1 Wind, while Avançsa has acquired a similar stake. Existing investors including Technip Energies, the EIC Fund and CDTI Innvierte also participated through the conversion of previously provided investment instruments.
The financing comes as X1 Wind prepares to deploy its 8.5 MW X100 floating wind platform at the PlemCat test site in Catalonia. The site has received environmental approval, with manufacturing of the demonstration unit planned for 2027 under the company’s NextFloat project.
X1 Wind is developing a tension-leg platform (TLP) designed for floating wind applications. Its configuration uses vertically tensioned synthetic mooring lines rather than conventional catenary chains, reducing the amount of equipment resting on or moving across the seabed.
The Barcelona-based company is also developing a larger X150 platform with a planned capacity of 15–20 MW. X1 Wind says it has contracts covering the technology’s use in projects in Europe and Asia, although the X100 demonstration remains an important step towards commercial deployment.
The company’s design combines a tension-leg mooring system with elements intended to reduce platform weight and installation requirements. X1 Wind claims its lightweight configuration can reduce capital costs by up to 50% compared with recently installed pre-commercial floating wind projects. Its proprietary Quick Connector System is designed to allow connection and disconnection in a day.
Grow Ventures managing partner Francisco Badia said the investment reflected the company’s technology and development potential, while X1 Wind CEO Alex Raventós said the funding would support execution of the pilot project and commercialisation.
The next major stage for X1 Wind will be construction and deployment of the X100 demonstrator, providing an opportunity to gather operational data before the company moves towards larger commercial floating wind platforms.
