Pan European Networks Government Issue 22 http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/html5/reader/production/default.aspx?pubname=&edid=50193954-4b6a-4e69-a2bb-905b399fbbc6

1. Cost-effective floating wind
www.paneuropeannetworks.com Pan European Networks: Government 22 49
Saitec Offshore Technologies has developed SATH®
, a competitive offshore wind
floating platform with bottom-fixed technologies
SPECIAL FEATURE: ALL-ENERGY 2017PROFILE
IN
any conversation regarding energy controversy,phrases
such as global warming,electric vehicles,air pollution,
energy efficiency or the nuclear debate tend to appear.
Even if contenders may not agree on their forecasts or arguments,
a general consensus will probably arise in the necessity of increasing
renewable energy share in electric supply. Wind and solar energy
have significantly proved their capacity to bring costs down, and
increase their market share despite variations in oil prices.
Due to the fact that 71% of Earth’s surface consists of seas and
oceans,and as wind resource is significantly better at sea (two times
more energy can be harvested) when compared to onshore wind,
some extraordinary pioneers developed the first offshore windfarm,
Vindeby, in Denmark in 1991.
Since then the offshore wind industry has been firmly established,
particularly during the past decade, with a dramatic reduction of
the levelised cost of energy as the latest Dutch and German tenders
have shown. Nevertheless, all this development has occurred in
shallow waters.
Thus,the last frontier is bringing offshore wind energy to that 44% of
the Earth’s population living within 150 kilometres of the coast no
matter the water depth. This can only be done by creating floating
structures suitable for wind turbines.This way,in the Basque Country,
land of sailors and fishermen, five years have passed since Saitec
Engineering started to work on an innovative idea to combine the
knowledge of the sea with the expertise of civil engineering in order
to create a cost-competitive solution for floating offshore wind.
After countless hours of hard work, Saitec came up with SATH
technology (Swing Around Twin Hull), which can be summarised as
a ‘pre-stressed concrete catamaran-shaped platform’ that rotates
around one point using a single-point mooring system.
The technology is based on several concepts:
n Concrete, as a cheap and durable material, easily adding
local content;
n ‘Onshorised’, i.e. the platform is manufactured and
assembled onshore;
n Single-point mooring, to reduce stresses and allow simple
mooring lines, which are less costly and more feasible for
shallow waters;
n Twin hull, as a way to remain stable in any condition allowing a
‘plug and play’ installation;
n Low draught, in order to operate in the majority of ports; and
n Ship-shaped,to simplify the transportation from port to the site.
These considerations allow SATH technology to be cost-competitive
with bottom-fixed foundations from 35 metres onwards.
In order to commercialise this technology, Saitec Engineering
created a new spin-off called Saitec OffshoreTechnologies in 2016,
which currently has a staff of 15 people focused on floating wind.
Saitec is now developing its first prototype of 2MW to be installed
in BIMEP, a test centre close the coasts of Bilbao, Spain. Saitec
Offshore is also working on several future projects, with a pipeline
of such diverse markets as Scotland or Japan.
Saitec Offshore’s staff resolutely believe that SATH technology can
make floating wind cost-effective, allowing the globalisation of
offshore wind and therefore delivering all its potential.
Luis González-Pinto Barrenetxea
Chief Operations Officer
Ibarrabarri Enpresa Parkea
A2 Eraikina
48940 Leioa-Bizkaia
+34 94 464 65 11
luisgonzalez@saitec.es
www.saitec-offshore.com
www.saitec.es