Principle Power and EDP to Develop Wind Power Project Off of Portugal's Coast

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Principle Power (Seattle, Washington), a technology developer for renewable energy projects, has entered into a memorandum of agreement with Energias de Portugal SA (OTC:EDPFY) (Lisbon, Portugal), a major European energy utility and currently the world's fourth largest wind power firm in terms of installed capacity, to develop a deep-water offshore wind power project off the Portuguese coast. Principle Power will implement its patent-pending WindFloat technology for the project.

Development of offshore wind power projects has been limited to near-shore installation of turbines on tripods or monopoles in water depths of less than 50 meters because of technological and economic limitations. There is a limited availability of seabed at depths of less than 50 meters, and the development of fixed structures at greater depths is known to be economically unviable. Further, offshore wind turbines have an estimated cost of U.S. 8 cents to U.S. 12 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of power generated as opposed to onshore wind turbine installations that have an estimated cost of U.S. 5 cents to U.S. 8 cents per kWh.

The WindFloat technology developed by Marine Innovation & Technology (Berkeley, California) seeks to overcome these technological and economical limitations by the use of a floating structure that can be set up at water depths of 50 meters or greater. The structure is similar in design to MiniFloat, a floating platform designed and marketed by Marine Innovation for use in offshore oilrigs, but is modified to support a wind turbine. The semi-submersible floating platform dampens the motion of waves and turbines and facilitates access to superior wind resources in regions with wind speeds of more than 200 miles per hour that have remained inaccessible. The structure is assembled onshore and can be towed for installation at the final location, rendering it the flexibility of being set up independent of the depth of the seabed.

The technology seeks to harness winds blowing on the open ocean that are much stronger and more consistent than winds blowing over land and can be predicted two days in advance with an accuracy of 90% to facilitate early planning. Further, these installations are located in deepwater zones and are not visible from the coastline. This ensures minimal impact on local environments and eliminates interference with the natural habitat of birds and animals in the coastal regions.

In June 2008, Principle Power secured an exclusive license from Marine Innovation for the WindFloat technology. Principle Power is now looking to further adapt the technology to harness tidal wave energy in addition to wind energy. This will increase the output of each individual unit.

In September 2008, Principle Power entered into memorandum of agreement with the Tillamook Intergovernmental Development Agency (TIDE) to develop a floating offshore wind power project with a generation capacity of 150 megawatts (MW) based on the WindFloat technology off the coast of Tillamook County in Oregon. The firm called upon TIDE for support in public outreach activities for the project. In November 2008, the firm entered into a memorandum of agreement with the Tillamook People's Utility District to finalize technical details of the project pertaining to plant location, power generation capacity, and safe and secure interconnection to the power grid.

According to the terms of the agreement between Principle Power and EDP, the companies will jointly undertake a three-phased implementation of the proposed offshore wind-power project off the Portuguese coast. The first phase of the project will involve the design, development and installation of a single unit in order to demonstrate and assess the feasibility of the technology. Based on the success of the demonstration setup, the project will proceed to pre-commercial deployment in the second phase followed by commercial deployment in the third phase. While the timeline of the project and value of the contract are yet to be disclosed, it is reported that the project will involve several equity participants in addition to Principle Power and EDP.

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