Spanish outfit Saitec Offshore Technologies has signed a contract with Biscay Marine Energy Platform (BiMEP) that will see the former’s DemoSath floating wind technology installed and tested off the Basque Country coast of Spain.
DemoSath will feature a 2MW turbine and be approximately 30 metres wide and approximately 67 metres long.
The structure will be assembled in the port of Bilbao and then towed to the anchorage point in BiMEP about 3km from shore in water depths of 85 metres.
Marine operations are planned by the end of 2021 and will deliver electricity to about 2000 homes connected to the Spanish grid, Saitec said.
The main aim of the project is to analyse the technology’s behaviour under real operational and extreme conditions, collect data and gain real-life knowledge from the construction, operation and maintenance of the unit.
The ultimate objective is to gather experience to implement improvements and optimisations to future commercial projects.
The pilot project will last three-and-a-half years – 18 months for the planning and construction of the plant, followed by a two-year operating phase.
Sath (swinging around twin hull) technology is based on a twin hull made of modularly prefabricated and subsequently braced concrete elements.
The float can align itself around a single point of mooring according to the wind and wave direction.
Saitec Offshore Technologies chief operations officer Luis Gonzalez-Pinto said: “This real-scale demonstrator is a massive step for us.
“A major milestone that could be considered as one of the most challenging gates to go through in order to achieve commercialisation.
“As if this was not enough, we have the chance to develop this project in our homeland using BiMEP testing area.
“Basque Country has a very active industry on the offshore wind sector, and we think that this project could become the spearhead for Basque floating wind sector.”
Saitec Offshore Technologies chief technology officer David Carrascosa said: “DemoSath Project will not only focus on technological validation, it will also prove the local content potential of Sath’s manufacturing as a result of the combination of both civil construction and offshore supply chains.
“We estimate that at least 70% of the contracting budget will be awarded to local industry.”
BiMEP is a public company established in 2011 for the development, construction, operation, maintenance and management of an open sea testing centre.
It is owned by Basque Energy Agency (75%) and Spanish Ministry for Ecological Transition and The Demographic Challenge through the Institute for Diversification and Energy Savings (25%).