Summary and Conclusions of the Full Life-Cycle of the WindFloat FOWT Prototype Project

The WindFloat prototype is a semisubmersible type foundation supporting a 2 MW, 3 bladed, horizontal axis Vestas V-80 turbine. The 8-year project is near its completion. After 3 years of planning, engineering and fabrication, the prototype was installed in 2011 in the northern Portugal Atlantic waters. Following 5 years of operations and electricity production, the unit was decommissioned in the summer of 2016. This paper retraces the prototype project going back to the early objectives, focusing on its 5-year performance and lessons learned. The overall assessment of the impact of the prototype on the incoming pre-commercial projects is discussed. Some emphasis is placed on both the decommissioning of the unit and the economics of the project, as these have not yet been published.