The new designs are advancements of existing WindFloat technologies that with features structured to support a wind turbine located on a column in the centre of the platform. They have been designed to complementing the existing perimeter column designs WindFloat T and WindFloat F. They share the same 4th generation design heritage and benefits such as a Smart Hull Trim system to maximise annual energy production and reduce loads; fatigue-resilient architecture optimised for large wind turbines; compact footprint and shallow wind turbine integration draft for maximum compatibility with infrastructure; and modular “block” subcomponent philosophy for high flexibility and compatibility with existing supply chains.
Wind turbines are growing larger, and manufacturers are increasingly focused on standardisation of their products for floating wind. The perimeter column and centre column designs have been developed to enable the WindFloat portfolio to deliver improved cost, weight, and performance for any wind turbine available on the market.
“The outlook for floating wind is strong and as the market enters a ‘commercial’ era, wind turbine suppliers are now thinking about how to position their products for maximum standardisation across the floating pipeline” said Julian Arrillaga Costa, Chief Executive Officer. “With this in mind, we’ve developed WindFloat centre column designs that are optimised for 15 MW+ turbines with stiffer towers. By expanding the WindFloat portfolio with these designs, we’re demonstrating how we can apply our proven expertise in floating wind with our known and de-risked technical features to achieve centre column geometries that are bankable and immediately ready for commercial scale projects.”
The new designs benefit from Principle Power’s 13-year operational track record and allow for similar, industrialised assembly methods utilising the same supply chains – a critical component in the scale-up of floating wind worldwide.
“Our longstanding collaboration with wind turbine manufacturers have provided us with the opportunity to establish centre column designs that we are confident will be the most competitive in the market” added Aaron Smith, Chief Commercial Officer and Head of New Business and Innovation. “Over the past year, our technology and engineering teams have worked tirelessly to de-risk and optimise our new centre column designs using our multidisciplinary and full lifecycle product development process.”
For additional information:
