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5 Apr 2022
The inauguration of the WindTalks for Innovation space, promoted by SPRI-Basque Government at the WindEurope Bilbao fair, took place on April 5, with up to 100 attendees. The inauguration was opened by Arantxa Tapia, Minister for Economic Development, Sustainability and Environment of the Basque Government, in which WindEurope, Iberdrola and the Basque Energy Cluster also took part. This was followed by a presentation by Basque industry of its extensive capabilities in the field of floating wind power, with five platform developers and the BiMEP test centre, and of its R&D capabilities, presenting three Hazitek projects that focus on offshore wind power.
The Basque floating wind industry was the main protagonist of the inauguration of the Wind Talks for Innovation space, a new exhibition and networking format, which lasted the three days of the WindEurope Bilbao fair and made it possible to present innovative projects and companies, clusters and attract talent to Basque companies at the fair's exhibition space.
The inauguration was organised by Basque institutions, SPRI (the sponsor of this space) and the Basque Government, which underlined the capabilities of Basque companies in the wind power sector and their great commitment to developing the floating wind power industry. In addition, WindEurope took part as the European representative of the wind industry, highlighting the role of floating wind power in Europe and the importance of industries and regions such as the Basque Country committing to this technology. In its role as a developer of offshore wind farms, now entering the floating sector, Iberdrola also offered its vision as a driving force in the Basque wind energy value chain. To close the inauguration, ACE presented its new Floating Wind Basque Country brand and catalogue, pointing out that 5 of the top 30 platform developers in the world are located in the region. This gave way to the first session of the WindTalks.
The five floating platform developers based in the Basque Country used this session to present their technological solutions: NAUTILUS FLOATING SOLUTIONS, SAITEC OFFSHORE TECHNOLOGIES, ESTEYCO, ISATI (industrial partner in the development of the ENEROCEAN concept) and SENER (which recently announced its partnership with Nervion Naval Offshore to create the company HIVE WIND and develop a new concept of floating technology). The BiMEP test centre, which will soon install several prototypes of this type of technology, also made a presentation.
The second part of the sessions on April 5 focused on the presentation of three R&D projects, all related to floating technology and funded by the HAZITEK programme of the Basque Government. This investment in R&D is and will continue to be key to ensuring that Basque industry continues to be as well positioned in the wind energy sector as it has been up to now.
The FLOAT&M project was presented first, which started in 2021 and aims to find new operation and maintenance (O&M) solutions in the floating wind sector. SAITEC OFFSHORE TECHNOLOGIES is leading a project that is ahead of its time, looking at the O&M of wind farms that are still in the demonstration period.
IDOM, as coordinator of the project, then presented WIND2GRID, which aims to develop a new floating substation concept, a product that does not currently exist commercially on the market. This project is more advanced, heading into its final year, and the developments presented were more noteworthy.
The first day of WindTalks was brought to a close by the SEAPOWER project, which also marked the closing day of the project in an idyllic setting. The project, which is coming to an end after three years of work, aimed to develop new solutions for the large offshore turbines of the future, which are already 15 MW in size and are expected to reach 20 MW unit capacity in the near future. In this case, SENER made the main presentation of the results achieved in the project. It also presented the floating platform designed for HIVE WIND as a result of the project. Leaders of different work packages also presented their own results: HAIZEA WIND, which has developed a new, more efficient tower design, and IDOM, which has designed a new, more efficient jacket-type fixed marine foundation.
In general, it was a busy first day in the WindTalks space with a lot of movement and high quality information, in a space full of experts from the sector who attended the fair and were interested in coming to see the presentations. At many points during the day, there were more than 100 people present.
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