MPS and WAVEC to Deliver Pre-Commercial Floating Offshore Wind Project in Portugal
Marine Power Systems have joined forces with WavEC to deploy their unique modular floating offshore wind platform technology in the north region of Portugal. This follows the recent news that Marine Power Systems is to demonstrate a commercial scale array at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney, Scotland.
Floating offshore wind is increasingly featuring in Government decarbonisation targets around the world and Portugal is no exception. The Portuguese government has shown its commitment to offshore wind with the recent announcement that it is targeting 10 GW of capacity by 2030 alone. Furthermore, according to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), Ocean Renewable Energy Action Coalition (OREAC), and the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) a staggering 90% of the 131 GW offshore wind potential identified in Portugal is dependent on floating foundations as opposed to fixed bottom turbines.
WavEC is a co-founder of the OceanACT consortium, which intends to generate an institution aimed at promoting offshore testing infrastructures in Portugal for blue economy technologies. WavEC has grown to become a leading center of excellence in offshore renewable energy and is currently one of the co-managers of the Aguçadoura test site in the north region of Portugal.
WavEC will support MPS throughout the licensing and consenting process, as well as the environmental impact assessment and performance monitoring in Portugal, for which WavEC bring extensive expertise and experience.
With the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding, Marine Power Systems and WavEC intend to lay the foundations for a long-term relationship that identifies opportunities for the implementation of Marine Power System’s technology in Portuguese waters, including at the future Technological Free Zone at Viana do Castelo, and other potential sites. Furthermore, this collaboration will generate a two-way bridge for sharing data and optimising the deployment of MPS technology in Portuguese waters.
Technological Free Zones provide a pre-consented area with grid connection where renewable energy technology can be more easily deployed and tested without incurring all the normal regulatory processes.
Gareth Stockman, CEO at Marine Power Systems commented, “This project will demonstrate our unique and modular floating platform technology, PelaFlex, at scale. Our technology has been designed to optimise local content delivery through a decentralised logistics model, and these benefits help utility scale developers minimise costs whilst maximising local economic benefits and accelerating industrial scale farm development. The deep-water zone at Viana do Castelo brings an excellent wind resource with a grid connection making it a first-rate site for deployment. We are thrilled to be working in Portugal and our partners bring huge expertise and local knowledge to the work we are doing there.”
Marco Alves, CEO at WavEC commented, “For many years now WavEC (and Portugal) has been a leader in promoting marine renewable energies, both from technology and market development standpoints. We always welcome companies to test and demonstrate their technologies in an open deep-water Atlantic coast environment as the one in Viana do Castelo. We look forward to working with MPS on the deployment of their technology, providing support in licensing and consenting, environmental monitoring and impact assessment, performance assessment and engaging with the supply chain.”