Spanish floater to be demonstrated off the Basque coast

The project will see the floating turbine connected to the Spanish grid, a first for the country. Marine operations to install the turbine are expected to commence by the end of 2021.

The ‘swinging around twin hull’ (SATH) floating structure for the 2-MW turbine will be assembled at the port of Bilbao. From there, it will be towed into position at BiMEP, 3 km off the coast in a water depth of approximately 85 m.

BiMEP is a public company established in 2011 for the development, construction, operation and management of an open sea testing centre. It is owned by Basque Energy Agency (75%) and Spanish Ministry for Ecological Transition through the Institute for Diversification and Energy Saving (25%).

Saitec Offshore Technologies chief operations officer Luis González-Pinto said, “This demonstrator is a massive step for us and a major milestone on the way to commercialisation. We hope the project could act as spearhead for Basque floating wind sector.”

The main aim of the project is to analyse the behaviour of the DemoSATH under real-world operational conditions. The pilot project will last three and a half years: 18 months for planning and construction, followed by a two-year operational phase.

The ultimate objective is to gather experience to implement improvements and optimise the concept for future commercial projects.

The SATH concept is based on a twin hull constructed from prefabricated, braced concrete elements. The floating structure aligns itself around its mooring according to the direction of the wind and waves.