Spain’s first-ever floating offshore wind turbine just came online

For the first time, floating offshore wind has been brought online as a new renewable generation technology in Spain.

The country’s first floating offshore wind turbine is now connected to the grid and generating power.

The pilot program is called the DemoSATH floating offshore wind project, and its 2-megawatt (MW) turbine is now supplying power that’s equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of around 2,000 Spanish households. (SATH is what its floating platform concept is called, and Demo is… well, you know.) It has a rotor diameter of 96 meters (315 feet).

DemoSATH was installed two miles off the Basque coast in August by Spanish engineering firm Saitec Offshore Technologies, along with Germany’s RWE Offshore Wind and Japan’s Kansai Electric Power.

It’s the fifth European floating technology with a turbine of over 1 MW installed in the open sea. It’s also the third concrete-based technology to reach this level of development.

Check out this great video from Saitec that shows how its floating turbine was built, towed out, and installed:

Data from this pilot project is now going to be gathered for the next two years.

Davis Carrascosa, chief operation officer at Saitec Offshore Technologies, said, “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.”

Read more: The world’s largest floating offshore wind farm is officially online

Photo: Saitec Offshore Technologies

To limit power outages and make your home more resilient, consider going solar with a battery storage system. In order to find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. They have hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.

Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online, and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisers to help you every step of the way. Get started here.