PelaFlex Floating Wind Platform Reaches Certification Milestone

September 27, 2023, by Adrijana Buljan

DNV has awarded the Statement of Feasibility to the PelaFlex floating wind platform, developed by Marine Power Systems (MPS) and planned to be deployed across Europe as part of several demonstration projects.

PelaFlex floating wind platform; Image: Marine Power Systems

According to MPS, its flexible floating offshore wind platform supports the rapid deployment of industrial-scale floating wind whilst maximising local content delivery through the existing supply chain.

With high system stability, low overall mass and zero tilt, the platform maximises energy yields, allows for simple installation using standard vessels and increased operations and maintenance (O&M) weather windows, the company says.

MPS also highlights the multiple launch options for PelaFlex that support a distributed port model for faster deployment and reduce the need for specific port requirements.

The Statement of Feasibility is one of the steps towards being fully certified in DNV’s certification process.

“Whilst this is an important step on the journey towards full certification for commercial projects, the work that has been going on behind the scenes to progress our ‘certification readiness’ is perhaps more significant,” said Graham Foster, Chief Technical Officer at Marine Power Systems.

“We have been working closely with DNV as our third-party verification provider on the detailed design of PelaFlex alongside developing robust, scalable engineering systems and processes. Not only has this delivered dividends in the early commercial work we have been doing but it puts us in a great position when it comes to scaling the business and delivering larger industrial scale projects in the future.”

The PelaFlex floating wind platform is planned to be deployed in the Celtic Sea within a project on which Marine Power Systems teamed up with RWE, which aims to help prove the platform’s capabilities in the Celtic Sea marine environment and test the deliverability of the technology in the region.

Furthermore, MPS is also working on pre-commercial projects in Gran Canaria and Portugal to prove and further optimise the technology.

Earlier this year, the company joined forces with Plataforma Oceánica de Canarias (PLOCAN) to deploy the PelaFlex floating offshore wind platform at a grid-connected test site on the southeast coast of Gran Canaria.

In October last year, MPS and WavEC, one of the co-managers of the Aguçadoura test site offshore Viana do Castelo, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on deploying the modular floating platform at the Portuguese test site.

MPS has also partnered with Simply Blue Group to develop a project proposal for the Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing round in Scotland, which involves deploying six wind turbines on the MPS floating platform in water depths between 60 and 100 metres as part of a 100 MW project.