Offshore staff
BILBAO, Spain – Saitec Offshore Technologies and RWE Renewables have selected Ferrovial to manufacture and assemble the SATH floating platform in the DemoSATH project.
The construction package is expected to last 14 months and covers site preparation, concrete precasting, procurement of steel bulkheads, and assembly of the floater along with management of the supply chain.
The DemoSATH project will deploy the first multi-megawatt floating offshore wind turbine connected to the Spanish grid.
The SATH Technology floater is based on a twin hull, made of modularly prefabricated and subsequently braced concrete elements. According to Saitec, it can align itself around a single point of mooring depending to the wind and wave direction.
For the prototype, the structure and the 2-MW wind turbine will be assembled in the port of Bilbao. The base of the structure will be about 30 m (98 ft) wide and 64 m (210 ft) long. The platform, including the turbine, will be towed to its anchorage point in a test field (BIMEP) 3 km (2 mi) off the coast at a depth of 85 m (279 ft). Hybrid mooring lines, composed by chains and fiber, anchored to the seabed will hold the floating body in position.
The unit is expected to go into operation early 2022. The power generated by DemoSATH is expected to provide enough annual electricity to meet the power needs for 2,000 homes and prevent emissions of more than 5,100 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.
The objective of the project is to collect data and gain real-life knowledge from the construction, operation, and maintenance of the unit, according to Saitec. It will test the offshore behavior of the platform in addition to the construction procedure to be used in future for mass production.
The technology will also demonstrate its capacity as a local content enabler, largely due to the use of concrete as main construction material. The project will spend 90% of its construction budget with the local supply chain (less than 50 km away from the site).
10/28/2020
