Kelluva tuulivoimala rakenteille Norjaan ja Portugaliin

EDP Renovaveis made known on Monday it has reached an agreement with four other firms to develop a 25-MW offshore floating wind project in Portugal.

The WindFloat Atlantic (WFA) project is intended for 20 km off the Portuguese coast at Viana do Castelo. It will have three or four turbines and will utilize US company Principle Power's WindFloat technology. The wind park is likely to be operational in 2018. The

other European firms in the group are French utility Engie and Repsol Nuevas Energias SA. Also, Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp and Chiyoda Corp will be taking part via their units Diamond Generating Europe and Chiyoda Generating Europe. WFA has obtained funding from the European Commission's NER 300 programme, from the Portuguese Carbon Fund and from the European Investment Bank's InnovFin programme.

The WindFloat semi-submersible foundation technology has been fruitfully employed in a test project in Portugal. A 2-MW turbine by Vestas fixed on the floating platform has produced over 16 GWh in approximately four years. The project will be the second floating offshore windfarm pilot in Europe, after Norway's Statoil declared this month it would make an investment of almost $236 million in a 30 MW, five-turbine floating windfarm off Scotland.  [emp]