Saitec Offshore has secured almost € 2 million from the European Commission (EC) to build a part-scale version of its concrete floating wind turbine design. The EC funding, awarded under the Horizon 2020 scheme, will be put towards building a deploying a 1:6 prototype of its SATH ( Swinging Around Twin Hull) design for a 24-month offshore testing programme to de-risk a 2MW demonstrator, known as DemoSATH, in Q3 2020.The company is analysing three potential sites and the prototype is slated to be commissioned in October. Saitec is currently in discussions with several turbine OEMs regarding the turbine for the prototype. Along with deployment of the prototype, Saitec is also collaborating with a certification body to advance certification plans for the 10MW-plus SATH floating platforms.
The SATH design is based on a joined pair of cylindrical pre-stressed concrete hulls anchored to the seabed via a single-point mooring system that allows the unit to swing like a weathervane to face the wind. The concept has previously been put through a part-scale testing campaign in wave tanks at the University of Cantabria’s Instituto de Hidráulica Ambiental.
Last year, Saitec tied up via a special purpose company with Spanish-Japanese renewable energy developer Univergy International to develop floating wind projects in Japan.