Unlike most offshore wind farm projects, this one floats.
- WindFloat Atlantic is the world’s largest offshore wind turbine on a floating platform.
- The first of these wind farm units was set up on the Portuguese coast of Viana do Castelo on New Year’s Eve, when it first connected to the energy grid.
- Wind turbines like these are expected to better take advantage of renewable wind resources found out in the deep sea than traditional offshore wind farms.
For nearly 30 years, the world has been collecting renewable wind energy by installing giant wind turbines off shorelines, anchored to the sea floor. That surplus of wind power helps turn wind turbines, converting wind’s kinetic energy into a renewable source of electrical energy for homes and business. Now, a new kind of floating wind farm has been erected that isn’t anchored directly to the sea floor. It’s not the first, but it’s the biggest.
Welcome WindFloat Atlantic, the world’s largest offshore floating wind turbine. Connected to the energy grid off the Portuguese coast of Viana do Castelo, the turbine went online on New Years Day and began harvesting energy the day after. It’s a very big glimpse at the future of wind power.
The Biggest and Best
This one turbine is only the first of three floating platforms that are expected to go online this year as part of the project. Once all three are in place, the partners working on the project say the wind farm will be able to power 60,000 homes per year with renewable energy with its 25 megawatt capacity. The consortium behind the wind farm project says this is the world’s first “semi-submersible floating wind farm in the world.”
