Vestas and its WindPlus joint venture partners EDP, Energias de Portugal, Repsol, Principle Power, A. Silva Matos and InovCapital have announced the inauguration of Portugal's first offshore wind turbine off the coast of Aguçadoura.
The Vestas V80-2.0MW turbine is also the first offshore turbine to be installed on a floating foundation called the WindFloat.
The unit was installed without the use of any heavy lift vessels or piling equipment at sea while final assembly, installation and pre-commissioning of the turbine and substructure took place on land.
Vestas CEO Ditlev Engel said the company is striving to find new ways of lowering the cost of energy in offshore wind while increasing the business case certainty for its customers.
"Floating foundations are one of the solutions with the highest potential for harvesting wind in deeper waters, and the Windfloat project was a highly interesting possibility for us to help explore this area within offshore wind," said Engel
"We have been working in close collaboration with EDP and Principle Power on the project and we are very pleased with the successful integration of the turbine and the WindFloat platform."
The turbine is capable of producing enough electricity to meet the power needs of 1,300 households and has already produces in excess of 1.7GWh.
