New floating wind platform, PivotBuoy project
Last October, the Catalan company X1 WIND installed an innovative floating wind platform (called X30) in the offshore test area of the Canary Islands Oceanic Platform.
This is a Singular Scientific and Technological Installation, which has a delimited area in the open sea, equipped with the necessary infrastructure for testing marine energy devices.
At the beginning of the year, the renewable energy company X1 WIND installed an anchoring system and completed a 20 kV dynamic cable installation in the Canary Islands. Now, thanks to European funding, they have achieve to connect them to their X30 prototypes.
This brings them closer to the goal of supplying energy to the smart grid PLOCAN (Plataforma Oceánica de Canarias) located on the north-east coast of Gran Canaria.
The main innovation of PivotBuoy, a system developed by X1 WIND, is that it reduces the cost and weight of floating wind systems, allowing installation, disassembly for maintenance and reinstallation to become less burdensome tasks.
The prototype consists of a new turbine design, with the tower has been removed and the turbine stands on a series of tripod-like towers, making it more resilient and stable in its movement.
And, its pioneering anchoring system consists of a set of cables tensioned from the highest of the three towers at the base that descend directly to a single point on the seabed, allowing the platform to take advantage of the large wind resources located in deep waters
The installation and successful operation of the platform at the PLOCAN test centre is a new milestone in the floating wind turbine industry. The knowledge gained throught the implementation of PivotBuoy is also aimed at preparing the way for further business growth worldwide.
Testing and real-time monitoring of the platform will continue until March 2023, coinciding with the completion of the PivotBuoy project.
References:
Smooth sailing for new floating wind farm platform | news | CORDIS: Resultados de investigación de la UE. Retrieved November 23, 2022, from https://cordis.europa.eu/article/id/442591-smooth-sailing-for-new-floating-wind-farm-platform
Antonio Barrero F. (2022, October 28). Eólica - ya está en el agua la plataforma flotante española que albergará aerogeneradores Marinos de más de 15 megavatios "en emplazamientos Muy Profundos". Energías Renovables, el periodismo de las energías limpias. Retrieved November 23, 2022, from https://www.energias-renovables.com/eolica/ya-esta-en-el-agua-la-plataforma-20221028
