ABS classes WindFloat Atlantic floating wind project offshore Portugal

The ABS Class Committee has accepted the WindFloat Atlantic’s three 8.4-MW floating turbines. This makes WindFloat Atlantic the world’s first classed offshore wind farm.

The three ABS-classed, semi-submersible type units were designed by Principle Power and house Vestas turbines.

Located 20 km (12 miles) off the coast of Viana do Castello, Portugal, WindFloat Atlantic is continental Europe’s first larger scale floating wind farm.

The Windplus consortium, which is jointly owned by Ocean Winds (50:50 JV owned by EDP Renewables and ENGIE), Repsol, and Principle Power Inc. developed the project.

Matt Tremblay, ABS senior vice president, Global Offshore, said: “It’s a historic first and, we believe, the first of many more to come. ABS has made a significant contribution both to this project and the development of offshore floating wind in Portugal. It underscores the potential of class and industry working together for the safe adoption of new technologies.”

Jose Pinheiro, Ocean Winds Southern Europe BU Country Manager, said: “The WindFloat Atlantic project is again showing its technology reliability. Having achieved formal ABS classification for the three floating platforms is therefore an important milestone for the project shareholders and also for the offshore floating wind industry.”

Thanks to their floating foundations, floating offshore wind farms are not subject to the same depth restrictions as fixed structures. With the development of larger turbines (ten+ MW) and research focused on shallow-water moorings, the floating technology may be an alternative to traditional bottom- founded technologies in intermediate water depths in the future, according to ABS.

Source: Offshore Magazine