DemoSATH Floating Wind Project Enters New Phase with Japanese Partner

Saitec Offshore Technologies and Japan's Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO) have agreed to extend operations at the 2 MW DemoSATH floating offshore wind demonstrator in Spain through 2027, with Japanese construction company Kumagai Gumi joining the project as a new partner.

The three companies have signed a cooperation agreement to continue operating the floating wind turbine at the BiMEP open-sea test site off the Basque coast, shifting the project's focus towards research, technology optimization and testing for future commercial developments.

Kumagai Gumi will contribute expertise in construction, focusing on improving future decommissioning methods and evaluating construction processes suitable for mass production of floating wind structures.

The agreement comes three years after DemoSATH began operations in 2023, becoming Spain's first grid-connected floating offshore wind turbine.

The demonstrator consists of a 2 MW turbine mounted on Saitec's concrete twin-hull SATH floating foundation, installed approximately 3.2 kilometers offshore Armintza, in water depths of around 85 meters.

The structure was built and assembled at the Port of Bilbao before being towed to its offshore location.

During its operation, DemoSATH has withstood waves reaching 13 meters and wind gusts of 100 km/h, providing data on the floating platform's structural behavior, movement and operational performance under offshore conditions.

Saitec said the initial demonstration phase had validated the installation, operation and electricity generation capabilities of its SATH technology.

The extended program will focus on monitoring critical components, analyzing operational data, developing predictive models and studying the response of floating wind systems under different offshore conditions.

The partners intend to use the findings to support the design and optimization of future commercial-scale floating offshore wind projects.

DemoSATH has also been used for environmental research through the DemoSATH Lab initiative, which examines marine biodiversity, coexistence with the marine environment and potential aquaculture applications.

The new agreement will allow the partners to continue collecting operational data and testing technologies at the existing offshore installation through 2027.