European JV to Make Offshore Wind Floater for 15MW Turbines

Ireland firm Gazelle Wind Power has joined hands with developer of renewable energy WAM Horizon.

French engineering and technology company Technip Energies has acquired a 16.3% stake in Spanish renewable energy startup X1 Wind, which claims to have designed an innovative and disruptive offshore wind turbine floater with major environmental and operational benefits.

The two companies will collaborate on the development of the first commercial-scale demonstrator, as well as the related industrialization and commercialization plans of the technology.

Technip Energies was the lead investor in the funding round, in which European Commission-owned European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund, advised by the European Investment Bank (EIB), and some of X1 Wind’s previous shareholders also participated. Under the terms of the agreement, Technip Energies will hold two of the nine seats on X1 Wind’s Board of Directors.

Additionally, Technip Energies will support X1 Wind’s management through participating in joint technical and commercialization committees. The company will use its expertise in engineering and project execution to make the X1 Wind concept viable for commercial application as well as incorporation in Technip Energies’ floating offshore wind (FOW) offering.

The X1 Wind FOW concept is based on a Tension Leg Platform (TLP) mooring, with a weathervaning system and a downwind turbine. The concept allows for a lighter floater design with a significantly reduced steel requirement and for a more efficient and restricted mooring system, minimizing the impact on seabed, claims the company. The concept is scalable for turbines of 15+ MW capacity, facilitating cost-effective deployment for large-scale offshore wind farms, adds the company.

Willy Gauttier, Technip Energies Vice President for Floating Offshore Wind, commented: “With this investment and collaboration, Technip Energies demonstrates that it is not only addressing today’s floating offshore wind market with its current semi-submersible technology, it is also preparing the future with this promising design to become the leader of the next generation of floaters.”

Alex Raventos, Co-founder and CEO of X1 Wind, said: “Our innovation capacity and disruptive light-weight technology, coupled with Technip Energies’ decades of experience in the offshore sector and proven track-record implementing the first floating wind projects, brings a perfect alliance to develop the next generation of floating wind technology, necessary to lower the costs of the floating wind sector to meet the ambitious targets and contribute to a carbon neutral but competitive energy mix.”