Saitec Offshore Technologies can today announce that the first power from the Demosath floating wind project has been sent ashore, the project’s partners announce in a statement.

The project has been developed in collaboration with German energy company RWE and Japanese Kansai Electric Power.

The project consists of a 2 MW wind turbine and is located 2 miles off the Basque coast. 

The commissioning marks the beginning of a two-year operational period to collect data on the behavior of the Sath technology developed by Saitec Offshore Technologies and the monitoring of the systems installed on the platform to understand its interaction with the surrounding ecosystem.

”We are glad to see that Demosath has been successfully commissioned. For us at RWE it is also another milestone on our way to unlock the great potential of floating wind globally, especially in countries with deeper coastal waters, like the US, France, UK, Norway and – certainly – Spain. ” Sven Utermöhlen, CEO of RWE Offshore Wind, comments in the announcement.

He goes on to say that the ambition is to become a market leader in floating wind, safely developing, building, and operating cost-effective, commercial floating wind projects worldwide. 

According to David Carrascosa, COO of Saitec Offshore Technologies, the commissioning of Demosath marks a culmination of the project. 

”We are proud of the work accomplished and of being the pioneers in Spain in providing renewable energy with a floating wind turbine. This will be our testing ground to gain knowledge based on real-world experience and apply it in future larger-scale projects,” he says.

At Demosath, specialized tools for bird and bat identification are installed, as well as systems for monitoring the biodiversity of the marine ecosystem. This includes crustaceans, other invertebrates, fish and whales in the local environment. 

These monitoring activities will provide insight into the behavior of groups and species around the floating offshore wind turbine. In addition, the project will include the evaluation of environmentally friendly solutions, specially designed for Sath, aimed at supporting marine biodiversity and enhancing fisheries resources at floating offshore wind farms.

(Translated by DeepL with additional editing by Christian Radich Hoffman)