Principle Power Launches New Floating Wind Foundation

September 26, 2023, by Adrijana Buljan

Principle Power has launched a new flat panel, pontoon-based floating wind foundation, called WindFloat F, designed for ultra-shallow wind turbine integration in ports.

WindFloat F; Image courtesy of Principle Power

Having its existing WindFloat tubular design, now called WindFloat T, already proving its mettle offshore and building upon it to bring WindFloat F, Principle Power has now expanded its WindFloat product portfolio to two fully industrialised products, according to the company.

The new floating wind foundation design combines flat panel architecture used in shipbuilding and oil and gas with technology from the WindFloat T and includes the same three-column architecture and an improved hull trim system.

“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”, Principle Power says.

According to the company, WindFloat F – designed for wind turbine integration in ports as shallow as nine metres and having additional buoyancy of the pontoons that minimises column diameter and footprint – allows for automated subcomponent manufacturing at existing Tier 1 and Tier 2 fabrication facilities and for creating more options within supply chains.

“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,” said Principle Power Vice President of Technology, Seth Price. “This means we can offer project developers patented products that are bankable from the beginning.”

Principle Power says the expansion of its floating wind foundation product portfolio will play a key role in the company’s industrialisation vision, called “300×30”, within which the floating wind technology developer plans to deliver 300 floating wind turbines by 2030.

The company has 75 MW of capacity in operation at WindFloat Atlantic (Portugal) and Kincardine Offshore Wind Farm (Scotland), and 30 MW currently under construction at the Eoliennes Flottantes du Golfe du Lion project in France, with contracts for commercial-scale projects totalling 10 GW.