X1 Wind Wins the “Premi EmErgEnt 2025” for Its PivotBuoy Floating Wind Tech

[By: X1 Wind]

X1 Wind’s PivotBuoy technology has been awarded the 2025 “Premi EmErgEnt” in the “Product” category by the Clúster de l’Energia Eficient de Catalunya (CEEC). The prize was presented on June 19th during the 12th edition of the "Nit de l’Eficiència" (Efficiency Night), held at the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya (TNC).

The EmErgEnt Awards recognise startups and entrepreneurs developing innovative solutions for efficient energy management in Catalonia. In the “Product” category, the awards highlight pre-commercial technologies and prototypes with high potential for scalability and market impact.

After evaluating criteria such as originality, strategic alignment with the CEEC, technological innovation, commercial potential, business model, and team excellence, the jury selected PivotBuoy as the winner.

The PivotBuoy technology represents a disruptive breakthrough in the floating wind sector. This platform combines a Single Point Mooring (SPM) system with a downwind turbine configuration and a Tension Leg Platform (TLP) mooring system, enabling operations in deeper waters with a cost-efficient and environmentally friendly design.

Among its main advantages is a significant reduction in structural costs, thanks to a design that allows for considerable weight savings. This translates into reduced steel usage and a more stable structure that can be easily towed by local vessels, simplifying installation logistics and reducing supply chain bottlenecks. Additionally, the TLP mooring system minimizes the seabed footprint, reducing environmental impact and allowing for better coexistence with other marine activities such as fishing. Altogether, these features contribute to a substantial reduction in the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), making floating offshore wind more competitive with a lower environmental impact.

The technology was successfully validated in 2022 through the deployment of a part-scale functional prototype in the Canary Islands, becoming the first fully operational floating wind platform of its kind (TLP) in the world. It is now entering the commercial scaling phase through the European NextFloat project, which will involve the deployment of a pre-commercial platform in the Catalan Mediterranean Sea.

Carlos Casanovas, CTO and Co-founder of X1 Wind, received the award and expressed his excitement about the next steps for the technology:

"I want to express my gratitude to the cluster and, of course, to the jury for this award. We are especially thankful to the more than fifty Catalan entities that have supported us since the beginning of the project in the Canary Islands and continue to do so; without their help, we would not have gotten this far. Finally, we extend our gratitude to the different administrations, both at the autonomous and state level, for their firm support of the NextFloat project in Plemcat. We hope that it will soon be a reality, and we can see it materialized.”

Watch the following video to see how the PivotBuoy technology works.

Learn more about the NextFloat Project.