Floating wind turbines to be tested off Portugese coast

US-based wind turbine developer Principle Power and Portugal's Energias de Portugal (EDP) have agreed to team up on a project to develop a deep-water offshore wind farm off the coast of Portugal using floating wind turbines.

The development will use Principle Power's WindFloat technology, which sees turbines placed on floating platforms rather than attached to the sea bed. The company argues that the floating turbines are far more cost effective to install in deep water than conventional offshore wind turbines.

The project will be developed in three phases – a demonstration turbine, a pre-commercial deployment and a full commercial deployment – in water more than 50 metres deep.

Antonio Mexia, chief executive of Energias de Portugal, said the technology could provide a major boost to the economic viability of offshore wind farms, which currently cost over double that of onshore developments.

"The development of floating foundations for wind turbines is a pre-requisite 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," he said. "We believe the Windfloat may be the correct approach to deep-water offshore wind farms."

The move is the latest in a seriers of investments from EDP designed to position the company as a major player in the burgeoning global wind energy market. In July, the utility acquired Houston-based Horizon Wind Energy from Goldman Sachs in a €2.15bn deal, and in October followed that deal by shelling out €8.4m for an 85 per cent stake in Romanian wind power companies Renovatio Power and Cernavoda Power.

EDP also holds a stake in the €9m wave-energy Aguçadoura project, which in September installed 2.25MW of wave-energy converters off the Portugese coast.