The Canary Islands Maritime Cluster within the framework of the actions foreseen in the INTERREG-MAC 2014-2020 projects: SMART BLUE (Activity 2.3.3) and INTERPORT (Activity 2.2.3), and as part of the promotional actions of the Canary Islands Suppliers brand, participates in the presentation of the prototype, led by the company Enerocean, of the first two-turbine floating wind platform, called W2Power.

The event took place on 10^th April at the Astican shipyard and at the Real Club Náutico de Gran Canaria.

The patented W2Power solution offers, through two 6MW wind turbines per platform, greater power generation without the need to increase the use of steel in its construction, thus becoming the lowest cost floating solution for the generation of wind energy in deep waters. W2Power also allows, in countries such as Japan where fishing is of special importance, the innovative incorporation into the platform itself of an aquaculture facility.

The act began with the welcome of Mr. Vicente Marrero, in his double function as director of ASTICAN and President of the Maritime Cluster of the Canary Islands. Afterwards, the project partners greeted the attendees at the inauguration, thanking them for the presence and support received in the framework of their activities, as a previous step to the official inauguration of the prototype by the Deputy Minister of Industry, Energy and Commerce of the Canary Islands Government, Mr. Gonzalo Piernavieja. Afterwards, the attendees were able to observe the prototype closely and in detail from all angles.

After the visit, two technical round tables were held at the Real Club Náutico de Gran Canaria. In the first one, the W2Power concept and its advantages were presented in detail by EnerOcean, which gave way to the partners of the WIP10+ project.

The second round table was opened by Mr. Gonzalo Piernavieja who described the efforts made by the Canary Islands Government to enable the development of marine renewable energy, especially wind, and the great potential of floating wind in the islands. Later Professor David Ingram of the University of Edinburgh highlighted the need for systematic development of devices for aggressive marine environments and focused on how W2Power has followed this process with excellent results, using the capabilities of FLOWAVE in Scotland, one of the most advanced test tanks in the world. Octavio Llinás, PLOCAN’s Director, stressed that the next step will be offshore testing, in a real environment, provided by PLOCAN’s test bench, a key infrastructure to enable this pre-marketing step. The round table ended with Margarita Molina, from the Canary Islands Maritime Cluster, as spokesperson for the local companies that have worked on the project, highlighting how the Canary Islands maritime sector adapted to providing repair and supply services to oil platforms, with high standards of quality, environmental protection and safety, and is now ready to meet the needs of offshore wind energy.

Representatives of CDTI, Agencia IDEA de Andalucía, Málaga City Council, Clúster Andaluz de Renovables, Clúster Marítimo de Canarias, Asociación Empresarial Eólica, Corporación Tecnológica de Andalucía, Asociación EMERGE, CETECIMA and representatives of public and private companies interested in this development also participated in the event.