Spanish engineering outfit Saitec has unveiled plans for the installation of a 50MW pre-commercial floating wind pilot off the Costa Brava in the Mediterranean Sea.
The Medfloat Pilot Parc project will consist of five turbines and will use the SATH technology, developed by Saitec group.
It will be installed in 2025 in an area located more than 15 km from Cap de Creus on the Costa Brava, in Catalonia, Spain.
Medfloat Pilot Parc has started with the presentation of the Initial Project Document for assessment by the competent environmental body, which will answer with information on the scope that the environmental impact study should have.
Saitec is already carrying out drafting work on the Environmental Impact Study.
Medfloat Pilot Parc will involve the creation of a test infrastructure in the Levantino-Balearic Demarcation for the testing, demonstration, and validation of SATH technology.
It will also demonstrate the technical, environmental and social feasibility of future developments of floating offshore wind energy, and particularly of SATH technology, in the Mediterranean.
At the same time, it aims to become a pioneering project to investigate the possibilities of shared use with other activities, especially with fishing and aquaculture, as well as the promotion of employment and boost the supply chain of offshore wind energy in Catalonia.
The selected installation area has been provisionally defined as Priority Use for offshore wind power in the Maritime Spatial Planning Plans of Spanish Government.
Medfloat Pilot Parc follows on form the 2MW DemoSATH project, under construction in the port of Bilbao.
The objective of this pilot project, carried out in collaboration with RWE, is to test the technology and progress in the industrialized manufacturing process for this solution.
DemoSATH will be installed in the BiMEP test area (Biscay, Spain), where tests will be carried out for two years.