X1 Wind’s floating platform has been installed at the Plocan test site in the Canary Islands. As summer trade-winds abated, a suitable weather window allowed X1 Wind and partners to complete the installation process, connecting the fully-functional floating wind prototype to the mooring system and dynamic cable pre-installed last June.The X30 platform has been developed with several key design features to streamline the installation process, including a light-weight and stable floater which can be easily wet towed by local vessels. The PivotBuoy Project focuses on demonstrating a mooring system configuration that combines the advantages of a SPM (single point mooring) with a small TLP (Tension-Leg Platform) mooring system, allowing the ability to reach deeper waters and minimizing the footprint and impact on the seabed. Fitted with a Vestas V29 turbine, the 1:3 scale prototype has been stationed at a 50m water depth in a downwind configuration, creating a passive ‘weathervaning’ effect that eliminates the need of an active yaw system.
After completing the installation, the PivotBuoy project will be tested in fully operational conditions until March 2023, feeding the electricity produced to PLOCAN’s smartgrid, after it has been commissioned.
The PivotBuoy Project is backed by a €4million grant from the European Commission H2020 Program. Led by X1 Wind the consortium includes leading companies EDP NEW, DNV, INTECSEA, ESM and DEGIMA and world-class research centres WavEC, DTU and Plocan.
