Successful offshore wind turbine test gives Portuguese consortium a leading position

An offshore wind energy project, with Portugal's EDP the lead partner, has been completed in a successful five year ‘live conditions’ test at sea.

The WindFloat structure, sited offshore near Povoa do Varzim, now will be towed back to port and a second wind energy structure will be substituted for further testing.

The five-year live conditions test, according to news today in Barlavento, saw the wind turbine withstand 17-metre waves and 60 knot winds as it generated more than 17 GWh of energy for the national grid.

The WindFloat will be disconnected from its cables and moorings and towed back to port where it will be inspected and reinstalled off Viana de Costelo.

EDP, with partners including Principle Power, Repsol and Portugal Capital Ventures is said to have been “the most-successful renewable energy project yet attempted offshore, positioning the country and the commercial partners as leaders in floating offshore wind technology," according to Luís Manuel, the director of EDP Innovation.

"The next step is the implementation of the first park with several turbines," said Manuel, "We believe that in the future there will be many more floating offshore wind turbine parks in the world."

Meanwhile the government continues to push for oil and gas exploration in Portugal in a counter-intuitive policy that goes against its acceptance of the 2016 Paris CO2 emissions agreement.

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