Case Study: Windfloat Atlantic
Project Summary
Windfloat Atlantic is continental Europe’s first offshore floating wind power plant, made up of 3 turbines, generating a total combined energy capacity of 25 MW, and located 20 km off the coast of Viana do Castelo, Portugal, in water depths of up to 100 metres.
The installation of the 1st Windfloat Atlantic turbine on its floating platform took place in July 2019 and marked a significant milestone for both the project and the wider offshore wind power sector as this was the largest turbine ever to be installed on a floating platform.
The platform’s structure – with a height of 30 meters and a distance of 50 meters between each column – allows wind turbines of 8.4MW each to be installed on a floating surface.
Scope of Work
AqualisBraemar LOC was appointed as marine warranty surveyor (‘MWS’) to oversee all marine transportation and installation (‘T&I’) operations for the Windfloat Atlantic project.
Work lasted between 2019 and 2020.
The MWS scope of work included:
- Technical review of all procedural and project documentation including drawings and calculations
- Marine assurance surveys of construction and support vessels to assess their suitability for proposed operations
- On-site attendance at critical T&I operations in Spain and Portugal for 3x WTGs on floaters
- MWS for T&I operations relating to mooring systems, array cabling and dynamic riser
Key Features
- Installation operations involved a self-propelled modular transporter (‘SPMT’) loadout of one floater onto a heavy lift barge, followed by float-off in the port of Ferrol, Spain
- ABL oversaw the integration of 8.4MW wind turbine generators (‘WTG’) onto the floating platforms shoreside in the port of Ferrol, Spain
- Witnessed the flooding of the dry dock, float out and tow to Ferrol, Spain for WTG integration of two “hulls” from fabrication site in Portugal to Ferrol
- Installation and hook-up of mooring systems
- Installation of array cabling including pull-in of the dynamic riser
Unique Elements
- Largest turbine to be installed on a floating platform at the time
For more information on AqualisBraemar LOC’s role in this project, please see the press release on our participation as MWS.