EC hands floating wind project €13.4 million

The ‘cornerstone grant’ has been secured by the ‘NextFloat+’ project from the European Union’s Innovation Fund.

The money will be used to accelerate the deployment of a commercial floating wind platform developed by Spanish firm X1 Wind, the project leader, which says its 6MW pre-commercial floating platform will be deployed in the Mediterranean Sea, ‘and pave the way to mass deployment of the floating offshore wind industry’.

“By deploying a full scale 6MW prototype, called ‘X90’, the project will test the integrated system design and its manufacturing, assembly and installation procedures at a scale that is relevant for the future offshore wind farms, whilst decreasing the risk and required time versus the alternative of deploying larger units,” X1 Wind says.

X1 Wind’s floating platform combines a tripod-like structure with a Tension Leg Platform (TLP) mooring and a downwind turbine.

The ‘PivotBuoy’ technology creates a structure that ‘passively weathervanes’ with the wind direction and substantially reduces the steel weight, X1 Wind says, compared with traditional technologies.

As well as making installation and maintenance easier, the TLP takes up less of the seabed.

The other project partner is Dutch technology company Technip Energies, which works in a number of sectors including carbon capture, liquefied natural gas and biofuels as well as floating offshore wind.

“We’re thrilled to receive support from the Innovation Fund,” said X1 Wind CEO and co-founder Alex Raventos. “The grant represents a cornerstone in the fundraising for the NextFloat+ Project, adding to finance already secured through the European Commission under the Horizon Europe program, finance secured through the French government as part of the France 2030 plan operated by ADEME, plus private funding from partners and shareholders. Crucially, it will provide an opportunity to drive substantial improvements in the competitiveness of floating wind as we prepare for long-term mass deployment in locations around the world.”