Wind Energy – Floating Wind
Principle Power, a provider of floating foundation solutions for the floating wind industry, said Tuesday it had expanded its WindFloat product portfolio to two fully industrialized products: the existing WindFloat tubular – now called WindFloat T – and the new flat panel, pontoon-based solution, known as the WindFloat F.
Principle Power said both WindFloat products were market-ready, suitable for the next generation of offshore wind turbines, and would play an integral role in the company’s wider industrialization vision for floating wind.
Julian Arrillaga Costa, CEO, said: “This is a major milestone in the history of Principle Power. We have taken the bankable, proven, and reliable WindFloat tubular design and leveraged many of its characteristics to develop a patented new design, the WindFloat F. Whether it’s the WindFloat T or the new WindFloat F, we will work with customers to select the right WindFloat for their projects.”
The launch of the WindFloat F comes as Principle Power spurs the floating wind industry toward global expansion, where GW-scale projects in diverse geographies place new demands on the supply chain, including more restrictive port infrastructure, the need for serial production, and a need for greater flexibility to incorporate local supply chains into project execution plans.
More specifically, the WindFloat F is designed for ultra-shallow wind turbine integration in ports as shallow as 9 meters. The additional buoyancy of the pontoons also minimizes column diameter and footprint, creating more options within supply chains.
Combining flat panel architecture, widely used in shipbuilding and oil & gas, with proven technology from the WindFloat T, the new design includes the same 3-column architecture and an improved hull trim system. The WindFloat F offers project developers a standardized, robust, and simple design that allows for automated subcomponent manufacturing at existing Tier 1 and Tier 2 fabrication facilities.
“We’ve taken proven flat panel architecture, the 550 GWh WindFloat operational track record, and our state-of-the-art numerical models, and extended all of it to the WindFloat F. This means we can offer project developers patented products that are bankable from the beginning,” said Seth Price — Vice President of Technology.
