World’s first semi-submersible floating wind farm achieves 78GWh power
Thus far, WindFloat Atlantic, the offshore wind farm has surpassed the production expectations set for it.
WindFloat Atlantic, the world’s first semi-submersible floating offshore wind farm, has been in operation now for two full years, according to a report by offshorewind.biz published on Friday.
The 25 MW farm closed 2022 with an electricity production of 78GWh, marking a five percent increase in output compared to 2021.
The structure was fully commissioned in 2020 and developed by the Windplus consortium formed by OW, a joint venture between EDPR and ENGIE, Repsol, and Principle Power.
Accumulated experience
José Pinheiro, Country Manager for Southern Europe and Project Director for WindFloat Atlantic, said in a statement:” Every day of WindFloat Atlantic in operation is one additional day of acquired knowledge to OW – something very valuable and differentiating when projecting future floating commercial projects.”
“Through this accumulated experience, OW not only we will be able to do fewer errors, but also bring optimizations and deliver more benefits to those who come to benefit directly and indirectly from our future commercial floating offshore projects,” he added.
The success of the farm showcases Portugal’s offshore wind energy potential, which is reflected in the annual availability of the wind farm, which was registered at between 93 and 94 percent.
The farm features an operations and maintenance base in the port of the Portuguese municipality of Viana do Castelo. In this location, the WindFloat Atlantic team acquires data in real-time from the wind farm and controls the different issues that may arise and that may possibly require on-site intervention.
So far this process has proved successful. This year alone, employees at WindFloat Atlantic logged in more than 18,000 hours without the advent of any accidents that required first aid treatment or resulted in leaves due to injury.
Thus far, WindFloat Atlantic has surpassed the production expectations set for it. It is now well on its way to achieving many more impressive milestones as it is expected to be in operation for 25 years.
Three platforms
The wind farm currently boasts three platforms, each with an 8.4-MW Vestas turbine. These structures are anchored with chains to the seabed and connected to an onshore substation in Viana do Castelo through a 20-kilometer cable.
It’s a good time for wind farms. In September of 2022, Hornsea 2, the world’s largest offshore wind farm located in the North Sea, went fully live.
The farm was commissioned by the U.K. in its bid to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Hornsea 2 was the largest offshore wind farm in the world at the time of achieving fully operational status in 2020. Two years later, the Hornsea 2 project was live and had claimed the bragging rights for being the largest offshore wind farm in the world. Not bad!
Hornsea 2 is located 55 miles (89 km) off the coast of Yorkshire and is adjacent to the Hornsea 1 project. It is designed to tap into the strong winds of the North Sea and generate clean energy.
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