Turbine installed for 2-MW DemoSATH floating wind project off Spain

The 2-MW floating wind platform for the DemoSATH project has been installed in open sea waters at the BiMEP test site in Spain, it was announced on Friday.

DemoSATH is a project of Spain’s Saitec Offshore Technologies, German energy group RWE AG (ETR:RWE), we well as Japanese utility Kansai Electric Power (TYO:9503), or KEPCO, which joined the initiative recently.

The platform was towed from the construction site in the Port of Bilbao, northern Spain to the 85-metre (279 ft) deep BiMEP test site, which is located 11 miles (17.7 km) away and 2 miles offshore in the Cantabrian Sea. There, the six pre-laid mooring lines were connected to the platform’s single-point mooring turret. The DemoSATH project will now move into a period of commissioning. Saitec Offshore Technologies’ SATH floating wind technology will then be tested during the two-year operational period.

Sven Utermoehlen, chief executive RWE Offshore Wind, said that this will be RWE’s second floating demo and that the company sees great potential for floating wind farms in countries with deeper waters. “As a floating pioneer the firsthand learnings from our demonstration projects are key to us optimising our upcoming commercial scale projects and securing their safe delivery,” added Utermoehlen.

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!