Viana do Castelo test site is available for pré-commercial projects (TRL 8 - 9) of floating offshore wind and wave energy conversion devices.
Such infrastructure encourages marine renewable energy development by enabling practical experience of installation, operation, maintenance and decommissioning activities for prototypes and farms.
Key characteristics:
- Managed by REN (the Portuguese TSO)
- Area: 11 km2
- 17 km distance from shore
- 80 MW capacity (upgradable to 200MW)
Legislation:
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Creation: Decree Nº 5/2008 of 8 January
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Base Lease: Decree Nº 238/2015 of 15 December
Services done:
- Export cable ITT documentation preparation, support and technical evaluation for the Windfloat Atlantic project (2017)
- Evaluation of the potential effects of the electromagnetic fields caused by the electrical cable of the Windfloat Atlantic project (2017)
- Monitoring of reference conditions of noise and cetaceans of the Windfloat Atlantic project (2017)
- Monitoring plans for birdlife and water quality for the WindFloat Atlantic project (2018)
- Implementation of the environmental management plan of the WindFloat Atlantic project (2019)
- Water quality monitorization of the Windfloat Atlantic project (2019)
- Export cable engineering support to REN for the Windfloat Atlantic project (2019)
- Monitoring of cetaceans and underwater noise after the start of operation of the Windfloat Atlantic project (2020)