EDP Picks AXYS for Demowfloat Project

EDP Inovação (EDPi) has selected the AXYS WindSentinel™ for deployment off the coast of Portugal in support of their Demowfloat Initiative.

The Demowfloat project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement No 296050 and gathers 12 entities of 5 different countries who aim to test and monitor the performance of their floating wind turbine. The prototype, located 6km off the Portuguese shore, enables wind power to be harnessed at sea in deep water (depths greater than 40 m) for conversion to clean renewable electrical energy.

The AXYS WindSentinel™ is scheduled for deployment in late summer as part of the ongoing validation program for the Demowfloat initiative.

“We are extremely proud to have been chosen by the EDPi team to work on this groundbreaking initiative aimed at significantly reducing the cost of offshore wind,” said Terry Tarle, President and CEO at AXYS. “This will be our first European deployment for the WindSentinel, which is representative of the unprecedented work being undertaken by the Demowfloat team.”

“We selected the AXYS WindSentinel platform based on its track record of reliable performance in harsh marine environments similar to offshore Portugal where it will be deployed, and on its Vindicator III LiDAR technology which was designed to perform from a moving platform in an oceanic environment,” said Pedro Valverde from EDPi.

The WindSentinel™ is a wind resource assessment platform that uses the Vindicator III simultaneous pulse LiDAR to accurately measure wind speed, wind direction, and turbulence at turbine hub-height and across the blade span.

Press release, March 20, 2014; Image: planet-ocean