Spain’s first floating wind platform exports power via subsea cable

X1 Wind has announced that its X30 floating wind prototype installed in the Canary Islands has successfully produced its first kWh.

First power was fed from the X30 platform into PLOCAN's (Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands) offshore platform smart grid via a 1.4km underwater cable connected to a 20kV transformer, a first for floating wind in Spain.

The X30 platform is equipped with a specially adapted V29 Vestas turbine, an ABB power converter and a TLP mooring system. The proprietary SPM design enables the floater to ‘weathervane’ passively to maximise energy yields and the electrical swivel prevents cable twisting, according to X1 Wind.

X1 Wind's electrical engineering manager, Adrian Oliva, said in a statement: “Our first kWh follows a particularly intense period of activity after the dynamic cable lay, platform load-out and installation.

"Once installed we carried out the first round of testing without power, to validate the hydrodynamic behaviour of the platform and survivability in severe storm conditions. Now generating power, we’ve commenced a second phase to assess the floater behaviour during operation."

According to Oliva, it's all part of the process to test performance in real world conditions and de-risk their technology.

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The X30 platform is equipped with all the electrical systems that the commercial platforms will contain, including their in-house SCADA system with sensors to control and monitor the platform’s behaviour in real-time.

The data generated from the testing phase will be fed into their commercial scale design which is being advanced in partnership with certification body DNV.

X1 Wind CTO and co-founder Carlos Casanovas said: “First power represents a huge milestone for X1 Wind, and the ‘lift-off’ moment we’ve been building towards for many years...Today’s announcement marks another significant stride forward for X1 Wind accelerating towards certification and commercial scale ambitions to deliver 15MW platforms and beyond in deepwater sites around the globe.”

Local teams will now enter the last phase of the verification programme in preparation of industrialisation and certification for commercial scale projects currently under development.

The project has received support from Project PivotBuoy, an EU-funded initiative aimed at reducing the current Levelized Cost Of Electricity (LCOE) of floating wind.

The PivotBuoy Project comes to a close on 31 March 2023, but X1 Wind has requested an extension of the testing period until May before decommissioning the prototype.

Plataforma Oceánica de Canarias (PLOCAN) CEO Dr José Joaquín Hernández Brito added that this marks a milestone in the development of Spain's floating wind industry. According to Brito, Spain is home to a number of floating wind technologies, research centres, and cutting-edge companies looking to develop the sector. "The government has also demonstrated its support for the sector by implementing new regulations (MSP) and funding initiatives to strengthen testing infrastructure and enable new pilots to advance these solutions.”