Portugal signs on for deep-water wind energy

Seattle-based Principle Power Inc. this week signed an agreement with Energias de Portugal to develop a deep-water offshore wind-energy installation off the Portuguese coast.

The project will use Principle Power’s WindFloat technology. The WindFloat system relies on floating foundations to allow wind turbines to be located in high-wind-energy areas that were previously inaccessible because water depths exceed 50 metres.

The installation in Portugal will take place in three phases: a one-turbine demonstration project followed by pre-commercial and commercial deployments.

“Offshore wind is one of our key innovation priorities,” said Antonio Mexia, CEO of Energias de Portugal. “The development of floating foundations for wind turbines is a prerequisite to the development of offshore wind farms worldwide, as areas in which the sea bed is less than 50 metres deep are scarce and fixed structures in deeper waters are economically not feasible. We believe the Windfloat may be the correct approach to deep-water offshore wind farms.”