The DemoSATH floating wind mooring project, led by Saitec Offshore Technologies with RWE, has reached its latest milestone, completing the pre-lay of the mooring system.
Maersk Supply Service has undertaken the installation of the six mooring lines and six anchors of DemoSATH at the BIMEP test site off Spain, from the anchor-handling vessel Maersk Mariner.
The DemoSATH mooring, anchoring and quick connect solution is now set for the 2MW turbine that will be tested later this year and which will be the first floating turbine connected to the Spanish grid.
The mobilisation and loading of the mooring lines elements and preparation of the vessel was done at Punta Sollana quay, in the Port of Bilbao, where the onshore construction of the floater is underway.
Once loaded, the vessel left the Port towards the installation site at BiMEP test area where the elements’ connection and laying took place.
The lines will be recovered from the seabed for a plug and play connection to the unit later this year.
Saitec Offshore Technologies engineering chief Araceli Martinez said: “The installation of the SATH mooring lines worked perfectly.
“In the future, we will use them in all our commercial projects that are currently in the planning stage.
“The operations have been a great success since the earliest stage of design and the execution has been outstanding.”
RWE Renewables floating wind development head Chris Willow added: “It is great to see that the DemoSATH project has completed the next step of the offshore works, with the mooring system now in place – an important milestone on our way to the installation and commissioning of the floating turbine later this year.
“We as RWE see great potential for floating wind farms worldwide – especially to unlock opportunities in countries with deeper coastal waters.
“With DemoSATH we are gaining experience with an innovative concrete-based platform technology and are broadening our expertise in this growth market further.”
In addition to the onshore construction of the prestressed concrete floating platform at the Port of Bilbao, works on the transition piece, single point mooring and boat landing are also underway.
The test field at BiMEP facilities is located two miles off the Biscay coast in water depths of 85 metres.