Semi-submersible Wind Turbine Installation

BOURBON, France, has installed a semi-submersible 2MW wind turbine. In perfect conditions off the coast of Portugal at Agucadoura, the company has used a WindFloat foundation, a project led by the Portuguese utility EDP and designed by the US technology developer Principle Power. This technology enables the wind turbine to be assembled onshore with standard turbines, and then towed and anchored at a sufficient distance so as not to be visible from the coast. 

 

For the installation of its wind structure, Principle Power relied on the maritime expertise of BOURBON's seafarer and engineering teams. The company contributed to engineering and management, mooring system installation and pre-tensioning, WindFloat towing and on-site mooring, subsea installation and power connection, according to Eric Verriere, managing director of Bourbon Offshore Surf, BOURBON's French subsidiary. 

 

These operations were performed by Bourbon Liberty 228, an Anchor Handling Tug Supply vessel (AHTS) from the BOURBON fleet.

 

The Principle Power project demonstrates BOURBON's capacity to offer a range of services to the offshore wind industry at several stages of the wind turbine construction operations. In the exploration stage, through the BOURBON fleet of subsea exploration robots (light survey ROVs); during the construction stage, using various vessels from the full range of BOURBON's fleet: IMR vessels for laying, connecting and burying cables on the seabed; AHTS, for towing the turbine; and crewboats for the transport of personnel; and in the maintenance stage, with IMR vessels; the accommodation capacity on these vessels enables them to operate as a flotel for the region.