RWE-backed floating wind pilot to start exporting electricity off northern Spain
Spain, Portugal and France are among the countries attracting pilot floating wind projects
A joint venture between Spain’s Saitec Offshore Technologies, German energy giant RWE and Japan’s Kansai Electric Power has completed the installation of a 2MW pilot of a new floating wind platform in open sea waters.
The hook-up operation involved connecting the six pre-laid mooring lines to the structure’s single-point mooring turret, according to a statement by Saitec.
Once commissioning is complete, the partners are planning two years of operations to study the connection of dynamic and static cable and pull-in to the turret, while exporting electricity to the onshore grid.
The SATH technology, developed by Saitec Offshore Technologies, is based on a concrete platform concept with a plug-and-play single point mooring that can facilitate disconnection for operations and maintenance work and allows weathervaning to diminish subsea load sand make yaw maneouvres easier.
“The project also aims to gain deeper insights into the metocean challenges in open sea, particularly in the harsh conditions of the Cantabrian Sea,” Saitec Offshore Technologies stated.
David Carrascosa, chief operations officer at SOT said: “This milestone in the installation of the DemoSATH floating offshore wind project validates the years of steady commitment, resilience, and teamwork.”
Sven Utermohlen, head of RWE’s offshore wind division added: “The offshore installation of the DemoSATH project is an important milestone on our way to the commissioning of RWE’s second floating demonstration project.”
“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.”
The Atlantic waters of both Spain and Portugal are held up as one of the areas of most potential for floating wind in Europe, and both countries are expected to stage inaugural tenders next year.
The potential for generating area in deeper waters and ongoing competition for winning design concepts has spawned a growing number of prototypes and pilot projects.
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