Testing offshore wind with SATH Technology

Saitec Offshore Technologies and the open sea test site Biscay Marine Energy Platform (BiMEP) have signed a contract to install the DemoSATH project off the Basque Coast for 3.5-years. Marine operations are planned by the end of 2021. Once connected to the grid, DemoSATH is expected to supply electricity to almost 2,000 homes.

Luis González-Pinto, chief operations officer of Saitec Offshore Technologies, said: “This real-scaledemonstrator is a massive step for us. A major milestone that could be considered as one of the most challenging gates to go throughin 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.”

SATH Technology (Swinging Around Twin Hull) 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. The technology stands out as the 9th installed worldwide, the 5th European, and the 3rd tested using concrete around the world.

With a 2MW wind turbine, the DemoSATH structure, which will be approximately 30m wide and approximately 67m long, will be assembled in the Port of Bilbao. From there, it will be towed to its anchorage point in BiMEP, two miles off the coast where the sea is about 85m deep.

By Rebecca Jeffrey