RWE Renewables has signed a collaboration agreement with Saitec Offshore Technologies to jointly assess floating platform solution designed for offshore wind turbines.
The partners have set up a joint pilot project, called DemoSATH, aimed at testing new ways to affordably install and operate offshore wind farms in deep waters.
As part of the project, the firms will commence testing of new floating platform solution for wind turbines off the Basque Coast in 2021.
The project will lead to the installation of a concrete platform, DemoSATH, featuring a 2MW turbine, in autumn 2021.
A spin-off of Spanish firm Saitec Engineering, Saitec Offshore Technologies will be responsible for the design and project management during the project’s duration. It will also undertake operation, maintenance and data treatment during the testing phase.
Wind turbine prototype featuring SATH technology planned for deployment in April
The partners are planning to deploy a scaled prototype of a wind turbine utilising SATH floating technology off the coast of Santander in April 2020.
RWE Renewables will partially fund the DemoSATH project, which will focus on the platform’s performance and load behaviour under various conditions.
The project aims to gather data and gain knowledge from the construction, operation and maintenance of the platform.
RWE Renewables CEO Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath said: “With DemoSATH, we are gaining experience with an innovative concrete-based platform technology that will help us to position ourselves in this growth market.”
Saitec Offshore COO Luis González-Pinto said: “The potentiality of SATH to reduce the cost of floating wind is immense. Now is time to build and operate this floating wind turbine and widen this exciting market.”
