Commercial Projects: large-scale floating wind farms

X1 Wind’s team is already providing its design and engineering services to clients in order to prepare the future Commercial Projects (>250MW) that will come online by the end of the decade. This includes feasibility and pre-FEED studies to support project development and tender documentation, focusing on the X150 commercial-scale platform (for turbines in the range of 14 to 16MW depending on the Project).

The X150 platform, designed for very large rotors of around 240m diameter, represents a step change for the competitiveness of the industry. The proposed tripod configuration is increasingly more competitive (than traditional tower-based structures) for larger rotor diameters and hub heights, since the structural elements work in tension and compression (vs traditional tower-based structures where the bending moments at the base are proportional to the cube of the rotor diameter).

The platform is well suited for industrialization and large-scale deployment due to the usage of standard and modular tubular members with relatively low diameters and thicknesses for the masts, columns and pontoons. Thanks to the low weight and diameter of each structural elements, they can be manufactured in parallel by several production lines in different workshops and then transported to assembly site(s). X1 Wind, together with its partner Technip Energies, is developing a detailed industrialization roadmap for the mass production of this platform, with the goal of maximizing the number units produced in a certain timeframe. The lessons learnt during the design, fabrication, installation and operation of previous units (part-scale prototype X30 and pre-commercial unit X90) bring significant insights to optimize the final design.

Other innovations such as the small TLP to reach deeper waters, the quick connection system and the offshore installation procedures (with the mooring system being installed prior to the hook up of the platform) bring additional cost reductions for the Commercial Projects, whilst maintaining a low footprint in the ocean bed and minimizing the environmental impact.

The “Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial” (CDTI), as part of the “MISIONES” program and under the “Liderazgo Español para el Avance de la Eólica Flotante” (LEAF) project, along with the European Commission, under the Horizon Europe H2020 program and within the PivotBuoy Project and EIC Accelerator,  have contributed to the initial phase of the X150 technology development.

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