Portugal plans to organise an auction for floating offshore wind this Summer, according to Reuters , which reports that between 3 GW and 4 GW are planned to be auctioned in the country’s Atlantic Ocean waters.
The procured projects are expected to enter operation in 2026, Reuters says Portugal’s Environment and Energy Transition minister João Matos Fernandes said.
The country already has a floating wind farm up and running, the 25 MW Windfloat Atlantic, which has been operational since July 2020. The project features three Vestas 8.4 MW turbines mounted on Principle Power’s semi-submersible floating foundations.
The consortium behind Windfloat Atlantic, comprising Ocean Winds, Repsol, and Principle Power, reported last year that the wind farm produced 75 GWh of electricity in its first year of operation – well above expectations.
Back in 2017, the Portuguese Government approved the Industrial Strategy for Ocean Renewable Energies (EI-ERO) with an aim of developing the country’s offshore wind potential, which is said to be much more significant for floating turbines (40 GW), than for fixed ones (1.4 GW to 3.5 GW).
According to estimations from the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), the Ocean Renewable Energy Action Coalition (OREAC), and the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP), Portugal’s offshore wind technical potential is 131 GW. Of this, 117 GW is floating wind and 14 GW bottom-fixed.