By autumn, the Seattle-based technology developer’s semisubmersible unit is expected to be moored 5km off Aguçadoura, north Portugal, with a Vestas V80-2.0MW turbine starting a grid-connected testing programme for WindPlus, a joint-venture company led by Portuguese energy group EDP.
“Stability” is the mantra for the WindFloat. Its open-centred triangular hull’s three columns have dynamic ballasting and, at each base, water entrapment plates, which together use a principle called “added mass” to cope with the loads borne from heavy prevailing winds and the turbulence of ocean waves.
“The
