On March 14th, 2023, high-level professionals from the offshore wind industry gathered at PLOCAN onshore facilities for the PivotBuoy Workshop Event. This event marked the closing of the PivotBuoy Project, a Consortium of nine partners from five different countries (X1 Wind, ESM, WavEC, PLOCAN, INTECSEA, EDP, DTU, DNV GL, and DEGIMA) and showcased positive results regarding the X30 scale-prototype platform performance installed in the Canary Islands.

The PivotBuoy Workshop Event counted with the attendance of more than 50 high-level professionals from the offshore wind industry, including end-users, turbine OEMs, EPCI Developers and other key suppliers, R&D centers, and also government representatives.

During the workshop, participants had the opportunity to observe the X30 prototype performance on-live through a SCADA interactive session. Furthermore, attendees visited the prototype in its location offshore, being able to observe the platform’s behavior and stability in operation.

“This project has proven a new structural and mooring configuration that will bring substantial cost reductions for the floating wind industry,” said Alex Raventos, CEO of X1Wind. “The Final Project Workshop has been a fantastic opportunity to share the results with our partners, advisory board members, suppliers, and other institutions that have supported the project and thank them for their contribution,” added Raventos. “We are looking forward to the next steps in this journey, which will include the pre-commercial and commercial deployment of this technology, in order to make floating wind more competitive and able to actively contribute to the energy transition,” he concluded.

The innovative X30 platform is equipped with a specially customized V29 Vestas turbine and ABB power converter (read more). Additionally, the unique mooring system combines the advantages of a single-point mooring (SPM) with a tension leg platform (TLP). The proprietary design enables the floater to ‘weathervane’ passively and maximizes energy yields. Compared to conventional designs that require catenary mooring lines, the TLP mooring system significantly decreases the seabed footprint, reduces environmental impact, improves compatibility with other sea activities and allows the platform to be deployed in deeper waters (read more).

The X30 platform was installed last October and is now being tested in fully operational conditions, feeding the electricity produced to PLOCAN’s smart grid (read more).

Supported by €4million from the European Commission H2020 Program, with a consortium coordinated by X1 Wind including leading companies EDP NEW, DNV, INTECSEA, ESM and DEGIMA and world-class research centres WavEC, DTU and PLOCAN, PivotBuoy aims to substantially reduce the current Levelized Cost Of Electricity (LCOE) of floating wind. Key advantages of the PivotBuoy system include a reduced floater weight, faster and cheaper installation processes and the ability to reach deeper waters with minimal seabed footprint thanks to the TLP mooring system.

X1 Wind is a disruptive floating wind technology developer. Based in Barcelona, Spain, the firm’s mission is to provide highly scalable solutions which deliver clean, affordable energy while reducing carbon emissions across the globe. The company’s unique floating wind concept was initially developed by Carlos Casanovas in 2012 while studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), before progressing with the patented technology for almost a decade. In recent years, X1 Wind has rapidly progressed its technology, having successfully executed several tank testing campaigns and completed the design, assembly, load-out, and decommissioning of a full-featured part-scale demonstrator in the Canary Islands. It has recently been selected by the European Commission to deliver the NextFloat project, an ambitious program accelerating industrial-scale floating wind together with Technip Energies and a consortium of 12 partners, to install the first commercial-scale pilot of this innovative technology in the South of France (read more). The company has steadily been building a world-class team of experts in the offshore wind industry and related sectors.

X1 Wind has announced today (MARCH 07) that its X30 floating wind prototype, installed in the Canary Islands, successfully produced its first kWh.

The milestone marks the world’s only floating wind platform currently installed with a TLP mooring system, which dramatically reduces the environmental footprint and improves compatibility with other sea uses. It further heralds Spain’s first floating wind prototype to export electricity via a subsea cable.

‘First power’ was fed into PLOCAN’s offshore platform smartgrid via a 1.4km underwater cable. Local teams will now enter the last phase of a rigorous test and verification programme which started with the platform installation in November 2022, in preparation of technology scale-up and certification for commercial scale projects currently under development.

X1 Wind CTO and Co-founder Carlos Casanovas said:

“First power represents a huge milestone for X1 Wind, and the ‘lift-off’ moment we’ve been building towards for many years. The first kWh is always a symbolic moment for any new energy generation project, and for our team, partners and supporters, it crystalises the immense journey we’ve been on and the exciting path which lies ahead. Floating wind is set to play a vital role supporting the future energy transition, global decarbonisation and ambitious net-zero targets. Today’s announcement marks another significant stride forward for X1 Wind accelerating towards certification and commercial scale ambitions to deliver 15MW platforms and beyond in deepwater sites around the globe.”

The novel X30 platform is equipped with a specially adapted V29 Vestas turbine and ABB power converter (read more).  Another key design feature, developed through the EU-backed PivotBuoy Project, combines advantages of SPM and TLP mooring systems. The proprietary SPM design enables the floater to ‘weathervane’ passively and maximise energy yields, with an electrical swivel ensuring electricity transfer without cable twisting. The TLP mooring system also dramatically reduces the seabed footprint, compared to traditional designs proposing catenary mooring lines, minimizing environmental impact while maximizing compatibility with other sea uses, in addition to its suitability to move into deeper waters (read more).

X1 Wind’s Electrical Engineering Manager Adrian Oliva said:

“Our first kWh follows a particularly intense period of activity after the dynamic cable lay, platform load-out and installation. Once installed we carried out the first round of testing without power. Now generating power, we’ve commenced a second phase to assess the floater behaviour during operation. This all forms part of X1 Wind’s extensive testing verification programme to fully validate the platform in real world operational conditions and de-risk our technology. The novel X30 platform is equipped with all the electrical systems that the commercial platforms will contain, including a commercial turbine, power converter, transformer, slip-ring and dynamic cable as well as our in-house SCADA system with multiple sensors to control and monitor the platform’s behaviour in real-time. All this data is being fed into our commercial scale design which is advancing fast working closely with certification body DNV.”

Achieving this important milestone is largely due to close cooperation with experienced suppliers as well as PivotBuoy project partners, who have played a key role in the success of this project.

ABB Project Engineer Ramon Macia said:

“We are proud to have been able to contribute to this ambitious project with the X1 Wind team. From ABB we provide experience in regenerative frequency converters, combined with an integral control system developed for Vestas v25, v27 and v29 turbines, installed on land and operating in upwind. In this project we adapted the control for operation on an offshore x30 platform operating in downwind, obtaining excellent results, and highlighting the stability of the platform-turbine unit operating at sea.”

Plataforma Oceánica de Canarias (PLOCAN) CEO Dr José Joaquín Hernández Brito said: 

“This marks a significant milestone for the Spanish floating wind industry. Spain has established itself as a global leader in innovative floating wind solutions, with numerous companies developing cutting-edge technologies, world-class research groups, and research centres. The government has also demonstrated its support for the sector by implementing new regulations (MSP) and funding initiatives to strengthen testing infrastructure and enable new pilots to advance these solutions. The PivotBuoy project is a prime example of success in this regard, and its accomplishments should inspire future endeavours.”

The PivotBuoy Project officially comes to a close on March 31, 2023, but X1 Wind has requested an extension of the testing period until May before decommissioning the prototype as foreseen in the EU funded project.

Supported by €4million from the European Commission H2020 Program, with a consortium coordinated by X1 Wind including leading companies EDP NEW, DNV, INTECSEA, ESM and DEGIMA and world-class research centres WavEC, DTU and PLOCAN, PivotBuoy aims to substantially reduce the current Levelized Cost Of Electricity (LCOE) of floating wind. Key advantages of the PivotBuoy system include a reduced floater weight, faster and cheaper installation processes and the ability to reach deeper waters with minimal seabed footprint thanks to the TLP mooring system.

X1 Wind is a disruptive floating wind technology developer. Based in Barcelona, Spain, the firm’s mission is to provide highly scalable solutions which deliver clean, affordable energy while reducing carbon emissions across the globe. The company’s unique floating wind concept was initially developed by Carlos Casanovas in 2012 while studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), before progressing with the patented technology for almost a decade. In recent years, X1 Wind has rapidly progressed its technology, having successfully executed several tank testing campaigns and completed the design, assembly, load-out, and decommissioning of a full-featured part-scale demonstrator in the Canary Islands. It has recently been selected by the European Commission to deliver the NextFloat project, an ambitious program accelerating industrial-scale floating wind together with Technip Energies and a consortium of 12 partners, to install the first commercial-scale pilot of this innovative technology in the South of France (read more). The company has steadily been building a world-class team of experts in the offshore wind industry and related sectors.

X1 Wind’s innovative floating wind concept introduces an integrated design where the whole floating structure passively orientates with the wind (yawing) instead of using a fixed tower and an active yaw mechanism on the turbine. By doing this, it is possible to drastically reduce the bending moments on the tower base, saving significant steel weight, which is one of the critical cost drivers of current floating wind systems.

This efficient structural design requires the use of wind turbines in a downwind configuration. While upwind turbines are currently mainstream, downwind turbines are being more and more common in floating systems given their better scalability when moving towards turbines of 15MW and beyond. Downwind turbines mounted on traditional towers are subject to a velocity deficit due to the tower shadow effect, but X1 Wind’s improved design allows a drastic reduction of the tower sections as well as the use of more aerodynamic profiles.

Within this study, Fraunhofer IWES and X1 Wind have simulated X1 Wind’s X30 floater integration with a Vestas V29 turbine. These simulations have helped X1 Wind to better characterize the aerodynamic forces acting on the structure and rotor of the X30 platform. This allowed a detailed evaluation of the wake of the structure and the real axial velocity deficit of the floating platform, which proved to be lower than those for conventional downwind towers according to an earlier 2D study performed at X1Wind in which the axial velocity deficit behind a truss mast was compared to the one behind a conventional tubular tower of 5m of diameter. Additionally, the dynamic excitation of rotor blades (3P, 6P) due to tower shadow was found to be very low. The results will be validated with real data after the deployment of the prototype at PLOCAN test site in the Canary Islands.

X1 Wind mission is to develop highly scalable solutions to reduce carbon emissions and provide affordable clean energy globally. In the last years, X1 Wind has continued to develop its disruptive floating wind technology, completing the design of a fully functional part-scale demonstrator, and successfully executing several testing campaigns, putting together a team of experts with decades of experience in the offshore wind and marine sectors. The company has been recognized as one of the cleantech start-ups with highest potential impact in Europe.

Fraunhofer IWES has been developing CFD methods for wind turbine aerodynamics for several years. The implementations of Fraunhofer IWES are capable of simulating full downwind turbines including different tower shapes, flexible blades in sheared wind conditions, under yaw, and many other options. The approach has been validated on several measurements within the IEA-Wind Task 29 (MexNext I, II, and III – and currently IV).

ACCIÓ is the Catalan Government’s agency for enterprise competitiveness. Attached to the Ministry of Enterprise and Knowledge, it specializes in promoting business innovation and internationalization and has a network of 40 offices worldwide. ACCIÓ Startup Capital is a direct grant for emerging technological startups that require financing to set about the initial phases of the business, to develop their product or service and to validate the business model for accessing the market.

In the coming months, the PivotBuoy® wind floating platform will be installed in Gran Canaria. The turbine, a Vestas V29 225kW, left Vestas and arrived last month with the adapted drivetrain ready to rotate in a downwind configuration. X1 Wind’s electrical team is currently integrating and testing all the electrical and communications systems to check their readiness to operate, and the adaptation works on the turbine will be soon finished.

Wind turbines have historically been mounted in an upwind configuration, with the rotor facing the wind. This is done to minimize the so-called tower shadow effect, which is significant in traditional downwind tower structures. However, over the last decades, turbine blades are getting longer, and with 100 m+ blades, avoiding tower strike becomes a great challenge. That is why significant effort is being put in the development of specific solutions with the goal of increasing the distance between the blades and the tower. Some common strategies include using a tilt angle or rotor coning, which lead to generation inefficiencies. Other widely used solutions with the same purpose include pre-bending of the blades and increased hub overhang. Additionally, specific control strategies and the use of stiffer, heavier blades is required, resulting in considerable increase in the cost of blade manufacturing.

What if we could remove this constraint? By switching from upwind to downwind configuration, with the nacelle facing the wind first, we can avoid this constraint altogether, unlocking potential lighter and more flexible designs, key characteristics for the efficient development of truly gigantic wind turbines (ongoing research such as the SUMR project led by the University of Virginia, Sandia National Labs and NREL funded by the Department of Energy in the US are working on the design of extreme-scale downwind blades that are 200 meters long which could power 50-megawatt in the future).

It is known that one of the main drawbacks of downwind is the tower shadow, and one of the main reasons for its seldom use. However, the PivotBuoy® platform has been designed to minimize this effect. By having a floating platform instead of a fixed structure, it is possible to allow the whole structure to weather-vane and orientate passively with the wind. This feature enables a complete redesign of the structure avoiding large towers, which need to cope with the increasing bending moments.

X1 Wind aims to show the benefits of this innovative solution that will allow larger and cheaper floating wind turbines using downwind technology by testing a prototype in the Canary Islands. To that end, Santiago Canedo, a mechanical engineer with 18+ years’ experience in wind turbine design including GE’s Haliade X-12MW, is leading the X1Wind mechanical team in the project of converting an upwind Vestas V29 225kW into a downwind configuration, to be tested with the PivotBuoy® platform. The adaptation process has the following stages:

1. Adaptation of the drivetrain: since it will counter-rotate, the gears have been machined to be able to work on the opposing flank. This has been done by Kumera, a manufacturer of mechanical power transmissions for the industrial market with more than 70 years of experience.
2. Connection of the generator: it will spin in the opposite direction; therefore, the connections must be changed to counter-rotate
3. Final minor adjustments to pitch and lubrication systems.
4. Re-positioning of the turbine and blades to orientate the rotor in a downwind configuration, as shown in the image:

Despite the transformation, the rotor will still be spinning clockwise. The original yaw system will be blocked for operation, since the PivotBuoy® system self-aligns with the wind thanks to its unique weather-vanning ability. This reduces the amount of active systems of the platform, which is critical for Operation and Maintenance during the lifespan of the system.

X1 Wind mission is to provide highly scalable solutions to reduce carbon emissions and provide affordable clean energy globally. In the last years, X1 Wind has continued to develop its disruptive floating wind technology, completing the design of a fully functional part-scale demonstrator, and successfully executing several testing campaigns, putting together a team of experts with decades of experience in the offshore wind and marine sectors. The company has been recognized as one of the cleantech start-ups with highest potential impact in Europe.

The adaptation of the turbine to downwind has been partly funded by the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) through the NEOTEC program to support technology-based startups based in Spain.
The Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) is a Public Business Entity, answering to the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, which fosters the technological development and innovation of Spanish companies. It is the entity that channels the funding and support applications for national and international R&D&i projects of Spanish companies.

The PivotBuoy Project aims to validate the benefits of the PivotBuoy® mooring system, An Advanced System for Cost-effective and Reliable Mooring, Connection, Installation & Operation of Floating Wind. While the scope of the project is on demonstrating the innovative PivotBuoy® single point mooring system, it will also enable the test of the Vestas V29 turbine adapted in a downwind configuration in real floating conditions at PLOCAN test site in the Canary Islands.
The Consortium is formed by nine partners from five different countries: X1Wind, ESM, WavEC, PLOCAN, INTECSEA, EDP, DTU, DNV GL and DEGIMA. The project officially started in April 2019 and will last for 36 months.

X1Wind is backed by InnoEnergy, the biggest European company promoting innovation and entrepreneurship in sustainable energy. InnoEnergy supports and invests in innovation at every stage of the journey – from classroom to customers. With their network of partners they build connections across Europe, bringing together inventors and industry, entrepreneurs and markets, graduates and employers, researchers and businesses. They work in three essential areas on the innovation mix: education, product innovation and business creation.

In March, the PivotBuoy mooring system and floating platform design phase was completed and the design was approved by the consortium partners at the Detailed Design Review meeting held at X1Wind offices in Barcelona. After the design was closed, the manufacturing of the PivotBuoy and the floating platform started at DEGIMA facilities in Santander. The manufacturing of the platform is to be finished during August, and it will be transported to its final destination in Gran Canaria after the summer.

For the whole platform, the design has been divided in several subsystems that take into account the handling and transport of each of them. This division will allow the project to avoid high shipment costs on both stages of the transportation: first, from DEGIMA facilities to Santander port, and then from Santander to the Canary Islands.

All subsystems will undergo non-destructive tests to ensure maximum quality before they are ready. So far, the outcome of the tests has been very positive. Additionally, to verify that all the pieces fit correctly before transport to Gran Canaria, the full platform will be pre-assembled at DEGIMA facilities, significantly reducing the risk of costly delays due to unexpected manufacturing tolerance errors during the final assembly.

Carlos Casanovas, CTO of X1WIND and technical coordinator of PivotBuoy said:

“One of the main challenges of manufacturing has been to maintain the schedule during the COVID19 Pandemic. Within the project, we have worked with suppliers from all over the world, making coordination a challenge. With all of us forced to transition to remote work, and the adaptation process this entails on many fronts, it has not been possible to maintain the original schedule. We expect, however, to deliver the finished platform within a reasonable timeline.

The PivotBuoy Project aims to validate the benefits of the PivotBuoy system, An Advanced System for Cost-effective and Reliable Mooring, Connection, Installation & Operation of Floating Wind. This will be done by testing a part-scale platform with a Vestas V29 turbine adapted in a downwind configuration and grid-connected to PLOCAN test site in the Canary Islands.

The Consortium is formed by nine partners from five different countries: X1Wind, ESM, WavEC, PLOCAN, INTECSEA, EDP, DTU, DNV GL, and DEGIMA. The project officially started in April 2019 and will last for 36 months.

For further information about the project you can visit the project’s website:

www.pivotbuoy.eu or follow us on Twitter (@pivotbuoy) or LinkedIn.

The PivotBuoy project Detailed Design Review (DDR) meeting was held at X1 Wind offices in Barcelona on the 4^th and 5^th of March 2020, and the design of the PivotBuoy system has been completed and is now ready for manufacturing at DEGIMA facilities in Santander.

The PivotBuoy Project aims to validate the benefits of the “PivotBuoy” system, An Advanced System for Cost-effective and Reliable Mooring, Connection, Installation & Operation of Floating Wind. This will be done by testing a part-scale platform with a Vestas V29 turbine adapted in a downwind configuration and grid-connected to PLOCAN test site in the Canary Islands.

The meeting brought together experts from the consortium partners to review the detailed design of the PivotBuoy system. This meeting represented a critical stage gate to formally approve the detailed design and advance to the manufacturing phase. The design phase has been completed after 10 months of intense design work, which benefited from a strong interaction of the consortium partners and brings together different project work packages: WP2 (design) WP3 (manufacturing), WP4 (assembly, installation & testing), WP5 (simulation) and WP6 (reliability).

The project has now entered the manufacturing phase prior to assembly and installation which is planned for Autumn 2020.

The PivotBuoy project Preliminary Design Review (PDR) meeting was held at X1 Wind offices in Barcelona on the 17^th and 18^th of July, 2019. The meeting brought together 16 experts from the consortium partners to review the preliminary design of the PivotBuoy system.

This meeting represented an important stage gate to review if the advancement criteria for the preliminary design is met and advance into the Detailed Design Phase. The preliminary design phase has been completed after intense design work and strong interaction within the consortium partners and the different project work packages: WP2 (design) WP3 (manufacturing), WP4 (assembly, installation & testing), WP5 (simulation), and WP6 (reliability).

The project has now entered the Detailed Design phase prior to manufacturing and installation which is planned for Autumn 2020.

The PivotBuoy Project aims to validate the benefits of the “PivotBuoy” system, An Advanced System for Cost-effective and Reliable Mooring, Connection, Installation & Operation of Floating Wind. The PivotBuoy is an innovative subsystem that aims to reduce the costs of mooring systems and floating platforms, allow faster and cheaper installation and a more reliable and sustainable operation. The system will be installed at PLOCAN test site in a downwind floating platform developed by X1 Wind.

The Consortium is formed by nine partners from five different countries: X1Wind, ESM, WavEC, PLOCAN, INTECSEA, EDP, DTU, DNV GL, and DEGIMA. The project officially started on April 1 and will last for 36 months.

For further information about the project you can visit the project’s website: www.pivotbuoy.eu or follow us on Twitter (@pivotbuoy).

The PivotBuoy project is pleased to announce the launch of its website (www.pivotbuoy.eu), and to inform about its kick-off meeting that took place on the 15th and 16th of May 2019 in Brussels, Belgium.

The project partners from five European countries met in Brussels, to kick-off this ambitious research project and collaborate on the PivotBuoy® system, a novel, single point mooring system platform, which could significantly reduce the cost of floating offshore wind. The project has received €4M of EU Commission Horizon 2020 funding.

The consortium will integrate a part-scale prototype of the PivotBuoy into a downwind floating wind platform designed by X1 Wind at PLOCAN’s test site. The system will be installed by 2020, where other innovations related to assembly and installation will be validated.

Once proven, the technology stands to reduce platform weight by as much as 80 percent and costs by 50 percent, turning floating wind competitive. The project aims to validate the benefits of the PivotBuoy system and other key innovations to reduce installation, operation, and maintenance costs, paving the path to achieve 50€/MWh in commercial-scale wind farms.

Alex Raventos, CEO of X1WIND and project manager of PivotBuoy underlines:

“The project aims to develop an advanced single point mooring system which can contribute significantly to the cost reduction of floating wind as well as being able to move into deeper waters. It is a pleasure to work together with experienced industry partners and R&D organizations from the offshore wind, naval and oil and gas sectors to validate the advantages of the PivotBuoy system”.

The Consortium is formed by nine partners from five different countries: X1Wind, ESM, WavEC, PLOCAN, INTECSEA, EDP, DTU, DNV GL, and DEGIMA. The project officially started on April 1 and will last for 36 months.

For further information about the project you can visit the project’s website: www.pivotbuoy.eu or follow us on Twitter (@pivotbuoy) or LinkedIn.

If you want to know more, download the full version of the Press Release

PivotBuoy®, X1 Wind’s novel, single point mooring system that could significantly reduce the cost of floating offshore wind, to receive €4m of EU Commission Horizon 2020 funding. A consortium of nine partners, led by X1 Wind, will deploy a prototype of the PivotBuoy, at a test site at the Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN).

Once proven, the technology stands to reduce platform weight by as much as 80 percent and costs by 50 percent, turning floating wind competitive. The project aims to validate the benefits of the PivotBuoy system and other key innovations to reduce installation, operation, and maintenance costs, paving the path to achieve 50€/MWh in commercial-scale wind farms.

First backed by EIT InnoEnergy, Europe’s sustainable energy innovation engine, the platform can operate at an increased water depth, compared to other floating solutions, opening up hundreds of sites, which were previously technically or commercially inaccessible.

The system combines advantages of Single Point Mooring systems (SPM) with those of Tension-Leg Platform systems (TLP) and a more efficient downwind structural design, enabling a radical weight reduction in floating wind structures compared to current spar and semi-submersible systems.

Alex Raventos, CEO at X1 Wind, said: “In the last decade, a number of prototypes have successfully proven floating wind is technically feasible, but costs need to be reduced by at least  50%. Technology disruption is required to achieve large-scale competitive floating offshore wind. Together with a consortium of nine cutting edge R&D institutions and industry partners, we plan to demonstrate the advantages of our innovative PivotBuoy system. We are delighted to receive this important support from the European Commission.”

The consortium will integrate a part-scale prototype of the PivotBuoy into a downwind floating wind platform designed by X1 Wind at PLOCAN’s test site. The system will be installed by 2020, where other innovations related to assembly and installation will be validated.

The project consortium combines experienced industry partners and R&D organizations from the offshore wind, naval, and oil and gas sectors, and is formed by nine partners from six different countries: X1 Wind, ESM, WavEC, PLOCAN, EDP, INTECSEA, DTU, DNV GL and DEGIMA. The project will officially start on April 1 and will last for 36 months.

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