11 Basque companies have decided to join forces in the WIND2GRID project to design and develop a new floating substation concept. The project is led by Idom, which will also establish the conditions for the design and the requirements of the substation, as well as the conditions for the evacuation technology.The engineering firm will also take part in the development of the floating solution, leading the design of the topside of the substation. Nautilus Floating Solutions will be responsible for the design of a new floating substation concept. Galvanizados Sala, a company devoted to surface treatments and the development of new materials, leads the work package to assess the application of new materials for offshore structures. It will focus on two types of materials: coatings for the protection against offshore erosion and new concretes for large offshore structures. Ogerco will develop concretes for different structures; whereas Viuda De Sainz, a construction company, will focus on developing new sensors for concrete structures. Navacel, a manufacturer of large metallic infrastructures for the offshore sector (wind and marine), leads the work package responsible for demonstrating the technical and financial feasibility of the floating substation operations for topside transportation. Pine is a provider of electric facilities in the marine and offshore sectors coordinates the work package to improve and innovate the O&M tasks of offshore substations. The following companies are also involved in the project in different work packages: Iberdrola, operator of offshore wind farms; Astilleros Murueta, shipbuilder specialised in manufacturing ships and naval artefacts; Credeblug, manufacturer of handling tools and systems including straps and clamps; and Erreka Fastening Solutions, manufacturer of sensorised bolted joints for wind turbines.
The consortium is supported by two centres of the Basque Science, Technology and Innovation Network (RVCTI) -Tecnalia and BCMaterials (Basque Center for Materials, Applications and Nanostructures)- as well as the Basque Energy Cluster. The WIND2GRID project was launched in 2020 to promote the collaborative research and development integrating technologies, components and systems for offshore substations with new features, based on the development of a floating offshore substation. The project has a budget of €6.8M for the 2020-2022 period and is funded by the Basque Government’s Hazitek Programme, with the support of the European Regional Development Fund.
