Saitec secures offshore site in BiMEP to install the first grid-connected floating wind turbine in Spain

• DemoSATH is a concrete floating foundation using a 2MW turbine to be installed off the coast of Biscay (Spain), in the Biscay Marine Energy Platform (BiMEP).
• About 70% of the project budget will be supplied by local Basque companies.
• SATH will become the World’s 9^th technology to reach multi-MW prototype level, the 5^th European one, and the 3^rd concrete floater installed worldwide.

Saitec Offshore Technologies and the open sea test site Biscay Marine Energy Platform (BiMEP) have signed today a contract to install DemoSATH project off the Basque Coast.

The Project will test the very first floating wind foundation connected to the Spanish grid using SATH Technology. Marine operations are planned by the end of 2021. Once connected to the grid, DemoSATH is expected to supply electricity to almost 2,000 homes.

With a 2MW wind turbine, the structure, which will be approximately 30 metres wide and approximately 67 meters long, will be assembled in the port of Bilbao. From there, it will be towed to its anchorage point in BiMEP, 2 miles off the coast where the sea is about 85 metres deep.

BiMEP is a public company established in 2011 for the development, construction, operation, maintenance and management of an open sea testing centre. Owned by Basque Energy Agency, EVE (75%) and Spanish Ministry for Ecological Transition and The Demographic Challenge through the Institute for Diversification and Energy Savings, IDAE (25%).

Luis González-Pinto, Chief Operations Officer of Saitec Offshore Technologies has said: “This real-scaledemonstrator is a massive step for us. A major milestone that could be considered as one of the most challenging gates to go through in order to achieve commercialization. As if this was not enough, we have the chance to develop this project in our homeland using BiMEP testing area. Basque Country has a very active industry on the offshore wind sector, and we think that this project could become the spearhead for Basque floating wind sector”.

David Carrascosa, Chief Technical Officer of Saitec Offshore Technologies, has declared: “DemoSATH Project will not only focus on technological validation, it will also prove the local content potential of SATH’s manufacturing as a result of the combination of both civil construction and offshore supply chains. We estimate that at least 70% of the contracting budget will be awarded to local industry”.