Offshore staff
BILBAO, Spain – The partners in the DemoSATH floating offshore wind development are progressing assembly of their SATH platform prototype.
At the port of Bilbao in northern Spain, lifting, pivoting, and positioning have been completed of the six pre-cast elements that have initially been prefabricated.
These comprise the two hulls, each including two conical and one-cylinder components.
Two cranes with lift capacity of up to 500 t were deployed to raise the 14-m (46-ft) tall structures which were subsequently transported 150 m (492 ft) to the construction supports at a purpose-designed foundation slab.
Ferrovial started construction and assembly works late last year. Milestones completed since include the construction site preparation, campaigns concerning the dosage of concrete to suit the design requirements, and completion of the first pre-cast phase, including execution of the floats.
The next phase involves full assembly of the prototype and the remaining elements of the platform. At the same time, new pre-cast phases and movements of large components will take place, such as installation of the tower and the wind turbine.
DemoSATH partners Saitec Offshore Technologies and RWE Renewables will test the SATH floating platform which will support a 2-MW wind turbine. The base of the structure will be 30 m (98.4 ft) wide and 64 m (210 ft) long.
The completed platform will be towed to its anchorage point to the test location (BiMEP) in 85 m (279 ft) water depth, 2 mi (3.2 km) off the coast of Vizcaya province, northern Spain.
12/17/2021
