The Spanish Saitec Offshore has secured funding from the European Commission to build a prototype version of its SATH (Swinging Around Twin Hull) floating wind turbine design.
Saitec will use the almost EUR 2 million funding to build and deploy a 1:6 SATH prototype for two-year offshore testing to de-risk the DemoSATH, a 2MW demonstrator set to be launched in the third quarter of 2020.
According to the company, the aim of the project is to help speed up the commercialization of the full-scale 10MW+ model.
Currently, there are three potential sites for deploying the prototype and the decision is expected to be made by June, Saitec said, adding that it is also in discussions with a number of turbine suppliers.
The prototype is expected to be commissioned in October.
The SATH platform is a solution made of concrete, comprising two twin hulls bonded to a single point, with a bearing that allows the platform to swing around this point.
It is said to aim towards reducing the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCoE), targeting both Capital and Operational Expenditures, which makes it cost-competitive to monopile foundations.