At RENMARINAS we want to contribute to the commercial development of floating platforms in off-shore wind. This technology promises significant advances in the near future, as it will allow installation in deeper waters in areas of high wind potential.

Canary Islands, and especially the island of Gran Canaria, is one of the most interesting locations for the off-shore wind power, as reflected in the analysis of the recently approved Spanish Marine Spatial Plan (POEM). On this island, there is a space of approximately 200 km² where not only the technical aspects do meet the requirements for the installation of these generators, but also the wind resource conditions promise up to 6.000 equivalent theoretical hours of production.

The off-shore wind energy test platform is located in the Port of Arinaga, which a priori presents the best conditions to be considered as a test platform, given its proximity to the area proposed for the commercial development of the off-shore wind energy in Gran Canaria. Furthermore, Arinaga itself is one of the best locations in Europe in terms of available wind and photovoltaic resources, and it also borders the Arinaga industrial site (the largest in the Canary Islands), which is also noteworthy from the point of view of integrating electricity into the grid.

In the Canary Islands, the commercial development of the off-shore wind power is proposed using floating platforms. Existing floating technologies currently allow depths of up to 450 metres to be reached, being the main limit the efforts derived from the mooring of the platform to the seabed. In addition, areas with depths of up to 750 metres are projected to be possible. Similarly, some developers insist that it would be possible to achieve the goal of installing offshore wind farms in areas where bathymetry reaches 1.000 metres.

Different types of floating platforms can be installed depending on the seabed conditions, the winds in the area or the size of the wind turbine among others. Some of the most important are mentioned below:

• Barge: The platform is similar to a boat in terms of length and width. It has a lot of surface area in contact with the water, which is precisely what gives it stability.

• Semi-submersible: This design uses several semi-submersible cylinders connected to each other by beams.

• Spar: This type of platform uses a cylindrical base that offers a simple and efficient design, with the weight applied at the bottom end. It requires more than a hundred metres of depth to operate properly.

• Tensioned Legs Platform (TLP): It is based on a central column and arms connected to the turnbuckles to ensure stability. The aim is to reduce the dimensions as much as possible in order to lower the manufacturing cost.

RENMARINAS Arinaga offers the possibility of testing different off-shore wind technologies under real conditions in a fully equipped platform.