The UK-based First Subsea has secured a contract to provide Platform Mooring Connectors (PMCs) for the 25MW WindFloat Atlantic floating wind project in Portugal.
The company will supply nine PMCs, each with a 5500kN minimum breaking load, to the project’s three MHI Vestas V164-8.4MW wind turbines to be installed 20km offshore Viana do Castelo.
The PMCs will be used to connect turbine generator platforms to mooring lines at a water depths of between 85 and 100m. Each platform’s mooring system is made up of three catenary mooring lines, connected to drag embedded anchors.
According to First Subsea, the PMCs will allow the mooring lines to be pre-laid on the seabed before the arrival of the turbines. Once the units have been installed, the end of the mooring line will be picked up from the seabed and pulled into the PMC located on the hull structure.
“The First Subsea Platform Mooring Connector provides a quick and easy mooring connection with improved long-term fatigue benefits at the connection point with the hull,” said Greg Campbell-Smith , Sales Director at First Subsea.
“Moreover, the flexibility of the PMC in terms of its pre-lay installation and ability to withstand constantly varying loads and load angles, makes it the ideal choice for the WindFloat Atlantic Project.”
WindFloat Atlantic is being developed by the WindPlus consortium, which is led by EDP Renewables and includes Chiyoda Generating Europe (CGE), Diamond Generating Europe Limited (DGE), Trustwind and Repsol NE.
The project’s three turbines will be installed on foundations based on Principle Power’s WindFloat concept. ASM Industries is manufacturing two foundations, with the Navantia-Windar joint venture producing the third one. Delivery is scheduled for June 2019.