Following the supply and installation of the mooring lines, Bourbon Subsea Services towed and connected the third 8.4 MW floating wind turbine of the Windfloat Atlantic project, located 20 km from Viana do Castelo on the Portuguese coast. With a total capacity of 25MW, these are the most powerful floating wind turbines ever installed.
BOURBON, responsible for the project management and engineering of the installation at sea, provided all the naval assets and necessary personnel for the offshore operations for the 3 turbines. BOURBON's project team worked in close coordination with its client WINDPLUS encompassing EDPR, Engie, Repsol and Principle Power, together with the partners Navantia / Windar joint venture, the A-Silva Matos group, wind turbine manufacturer MHI Vestas and dynamic cables manufacturer JDR Cables as well as Vryhof, the anchoring system supplier.
Bourbon Subsea Services, henceforth, positions itself today as the European leader in the installation of offshore floating wind turbines.
With the support of three vessels (the Bourbon Orca AHTS, a port tug and an ROV support vessel laying electrical cables), a team of more than 70 people will set this wind turbine up, culminating at almost 100m height.
After towing and connection to the preinstalled anchor lines, BOURBON will carry out the electrical connection operations. This lump sum project demonstrates the group’s expertise in towing, underwater robotics, positioning and laying of electric cables as well as the project management capacity of all stakeholders.
"This last step in the WindFloat Atlantic project marks a turning point for floating wind power, which goes from the prototype to a pre-industrial stage. The successful completion of this project demonstrates the potential of floating wind turbines and is a source of pride for BOURBON, which is taking part in the development of renewable energies, drawing on years of experience and professionalism at sea,” Bourbon Subsea Services CEO Patrick Belenfant said.
Source: Bourbon