Renewable Energy

DemoSATH floating wind platform installed offshore

Aug. 11, 2023

Saitec Offshore, in collaboration with RWE and Kansai Electric Power Inc., have installed the 2-MW floating wind unit DemoSATH in open sea waters in Spain.

Offshore staff

BILBAO, Spain — The DemoSATH 2-MW floating wind platform demonstrator has been installed at the BiMEP test site, 2 miles offshore in the Cantabrian Sea in a water depth of 85 m.

The Windstaller Alliance’s anchorhandling vessel Normand Sapphire performed the operation, with support from local tugboats, to tow DemoSATH from the construction site in the Port of Bilbao to the test site, 11 miles away.

Hookup offshore involved connecting the six pre-laid mooring lines to the structure’s single-point mooring turret.

Works continue in the BiMEP test area to finalize the connection of dynamic and static cables and pull-in to the DemoSATH’s turret, followed by commissioning, allowing exports of electricity to the onshore grid to begin.

During the two-year period at the site, Saitec Offshore Technologies’ SATH technology for floating offshore wind will be tested and operations/maintenance tasks analyzed.

In addition, the project should deliver insights into the metocean challenges in the open sea, especially in the harsh conditions of the Cantabrian Sea, along with feedback concerning the coexistence of the platform with the environment and other maritime activities.