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BlueSATH ready for sail-out

By: Tom Russell 18/03/2020 Saitec Offshore Technologies

General Windfarms

Spanish engineering firm Saitec Offshore Technologies has loaded its medium-scale floating offshore prototype BlueSATH into the water. It was recently assembled onshore and is undergoing final preparations before going into operation off the coast of Santander (Spain).

The project will be in operation for 12 months, after which the prototype will be completely decommissioned. Testing will take place in real sea environment, with the deployment of a 1:6 scaled prototype of a 10 MW wind turbine using SATH floating (Swinging Around Twin Hull) technology. Prior to offshore deployments, several testing campaigns were carried out with scaled models.

SATH technology is based on a twin hull made of modularly prefabricated and subsequently braced concrete elements. The float is designed to align itself around a Single Mooring Point, according to the wind and wave direction.

The main objectives of BlueSATH project cover SATH platform validation of its response and dynamic behaviour. The aim is to obtain models that allow for structural optimisation. Additionally, the variables which better predict damage on different structure elements would be identified, so the structural life cycle can be appropriately forecasted through a series of sensors. Furthermore, the demonstrator’s logistic and transport challenges and risks would be monitored in the course of its transport from manufacturing/assembly setting to its final operation location.

The results and findings will be applied in the following real-scale model, the 2 MW DemoSATH which is to be installed on the Basque Marine Energy Platform (BIMEP). Backed by RWE Renewables, the project is expected to go into operation in the third quarter of 2021. The electricity generated during the project will be fed into the Spanish power grid.

For the large prototype, the structure and the 2 MW wind turbine will be assembled in the port of Bilbao. The base of the structure will be approximately 30 metres wide and approximately 64 metres long. The platform including the turbine will be towed to its anchorage point in a test field BIMEP 2 miles off the coast. The sea is about 85 metres deep at this point. Hybrid mooring lines, composed by chains and fibre, anchored to the seabed will hold the floating body in position.

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BlueSATH ready for sail-out

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