Saitec plans pilot with three 15MW floating wind turbines

Floating platform manufacturer Saitec Offshore Technologies has announced plans for a 45MW pilot project off Spain’s Basque coast.

It intends to build the 45MW Geroa Geroa (45MW) Offshore10 km off the coast of Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain, Europe Click to see full details wind farm (Green Energy Research for Offshore Atlantic) 10km from the coast of Bilbao in northern Spain.

The project would consist of three 15MW turbines installed on its Sath (swinging around twin hull) concrete floating platforms.

Saitec recently began the environmental impact assessment process and aims to have the project online in 2025.

It has not yet confirmed a turbine manufacturer for the Geroa project.

The Spanish engineering firm’s Sath platform features two cylindrical and horizontal hulls with conical edges braced by a concrete frame. It can align itself around a single point of mooring, according to the direction of the wind and waves, Saitec explained.

Saitec has previously installed a 30kW pilot project using its Sath platform off Santander, northern Spain, and is due to install a 2MW demonstrator nearby in 2022. Its 30kW pilot project was knocked over and capsized during a storm late last year.

David Carrascosa, director of operations at Saitec Offshore said: “It is of vital importance to develop pre-commercial projects such as Geroa that serve as a test bed, not only for the industry involved but also for the public administration so that all together we can gain experience before reaching the project auctions commercials that are to come.”