The European Commission has selected Technip Energies, X1 Wind and a consortium of ten international entities to deliver the NextFloat project, a programme accelerating industrial-scale floating wind as part of which the partners will test a 6 MW floating wind platform offshore France.
Together with Technip Energies and X1 Wind, the consortium members are: Naturgy, 2B-Energy, Hellenic Cables, Ocean Ecostructures, Schwartz Hautmont, Tersan Shipyard, Ecole Centrale de Nantes, Ocas, Hydro, and the Technical University of Denmark.
The grant agreement is currently under negotiations with the European Commission and the project is expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to Technip Energies and X1 Wind.
Within the NextFloat project, the project partners aim to demonstrate a competitive, sustainable and integrated floating offshore wind solution optimised for deep waters, and to accelerate the industrial-scale deployment of floating offshore wind.
The integrated solution relies on X1 Wind’s floating offshore wind technology, which is said to be a lighter floater design with a reduced steel requirement, as well as a more efficient and compact mooring system that can minimise the impact on seabed.
The NextFloat project includes the deployment of a full scale 6 MW prototype at the Mistral test site in the French Mediterranean Sea.
This will allow the concept to be demonstrated in operational conditions, as well as the manufacturing, assembly and installation procedures of the integrated system design to be tested at a scale that is relevant for the upcoming commercial offshore wind farms.