A multi-company initiative backed by the Basque government’s Hazitek Programme will be officially launched this week at WindEurope Bilbao conference aimed at optimising operation and maintenance (O&M) activities at floating wind farms.
The FLOAT&M project will last for three years and will research and develop new solutions to improve O&M activities in future floating wind farms.
The project initially kicked off in 2021 with a consortium made up of 15 leading Basque companies from the floating wind power sector, coordinated by Saitec Offshore Technologies.
It was founded with the aim of providing a comprehensive solution focused on the O&M of floating wind farms.
The participants said the results obtained from the initiative will make it possible to increase the reliability of floating offshore wind assets, reduce the number of hours not in operation, monitor the condition of the wind asset by enabling improved operation and maintenance strategies, reduce the need for access to the floating platforms, increase the safety of the people involved in operating the installations and, lastly, contribute to the sustainability of the continued operation of offshore wind turbines, thereby increasing their useful life.
The consortium also includes Aeroblade, Alerion, Core Marine, Ditrel, Egoa Energía, Inalia, Lumiker, Mugape, Nautilus, Navacel, Sener, Sidenor and Vicinay Cadenas and Vicinay Sestao.
The project’s advisory committee also includes Iberdrola and Siemens Gamesa.
The launch of the FLOAT&M project will take place at WindEurope Bilbao, where it will organise a private meeting with the members of the Advisory Committee on 5 April and then present the project at the WindTalks for Innovation event that will take place in the exhibition area.