Saitec Offshore Technologies and RWE have completed the launching operation of the floating unit of the DemoSATH project. Installation is planned for later this summer.During the next months the submarine dynamic cable will be deployed at the installation site and the floater will be towed out to be connected to it, as well as to the mooring lines that were previously installed in late April. The load out and launching operations were performed at Punta Sollana quay, in the Port of Bilbao (Spain), where the prestressed concrete platform was previously constructed and assembled, and equipped with a 2MW turbine.
Firstly, the DemoSATH unit was loaded onto the semisubmersible barge’s deck by means of Self-Propelled Modular Transporters. The barge was then ballasted down lower into the water until the DemoSATH unit became buoyant, after which it was towed off.
Saitec Offshore Technologies and RWE Renewables entered into the partnership to develop DemoSATH project in 2020. The 2MW unit using SATH Technology will be installed in a test field (BIMEP) which is two miles off the Basque coast, where the sea is 85 meters deep. The SATH design allows the pre-fabrication of concrete components and uses a single-point-of-mooring system that allows the structure to yaw around its mooring and passively align itself to the wave and current direction. The aim of this demonstrator project is to test the technology for its industrialisation for offshore wind farms in deep waters.
