Floating wind power project seeks EU funds
INVESTORS in the world’s first floating wind turbine are seeking European Union funding to build five more off the coast of Portugal following the success of initial testing of the device.
The wind power generator, which cost €20m (£16.2m), floats over deep ocean waters, unlike previous offshore wind farms built in shallow waters and attached to the sea bed.
EDP and Seattle-based Principle Power, partners in the project, said the pilot produced 1.7 gigawatts of energy per hour (GWh) on average since its blades started turning six months ago, enough to supply power to 1,300 families.
The pilot sits six kilometres off the coast of the windy town of Povoa do Varzim, close to Porto in northern Portugal.
It is 54 metres tall and weighs 1,200 tonnes, with a turbine from Denmark’s Vestas and backup from Repsol and other local partners. Construction of a bigger wind farm park now awaits EU funding.
“We have applied for a European Commission funding scheme that creates a tariff-like funding mechanism when you produce energy. It is provided through the monetisation of carbon credits,” Weinstein said.