The BlueSATH floating wind platform has been installed and commissioned in its final deployment site in Santander, Spain.
Spanish engineering company Saitec Offshore Technologies launched the towing operation from Astander’s Dock Pontejos, where it was tied up for its setup, toward its destination 800 meters off the Cantabrian coast. The already-laid mooring lines were retrieved from the seabed and the platform hook-up was accomplished in less than three hours.
Testing will take place in a real sea environment with the deployment of a 1:6 scaled prototype of a 10 MW wind turbine using SATH floating technology. SATH, or swinging around twin hull, is an innovative, competitive and cost-efficient solution for the offshore wind industry which has been validated in several water tank tests since 2014.
The location in Santander was chosen due to its ideal characteristics to carry out the tests as it offers scaled conditions that perfectly adapt to the BlueSATH platform.
“This is the definitive step to test the technology in real conditions. We are positioning Spain to once again be a pioneer in renewables,” says David Carrascosa, CTO of Saitec Offshore Technologies.
BlueSATH tests conclusions will be applied to the following full-scale model DemoSATH (2 MW). The project has the support of RWE Renewables and will be installed in the Basque Platform for Marine Energies (BIMEP) in Armintza in 2021.
Photo: The BlueSATH floating wind platform
