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28 Mar 2024
International
On March 22, the Basque Energy Cluster organised a side event during WindEurope Bilbao to discuss the latest developments in operating and maintenance (O&M) techniques for the floating wind energy sector. The event was attended by more than 100 people, one of the largest WindEurope conference side events over the three days.
The installation of floating wind turbines has been on the rise for some years now and, although the turbines installed are still at the prototype or pre-commercial stage, the solutions for these operating and maintenance tasks are being tested at the same time as the first turbines are being installed.
Due to the growing interest in these innovative solutions and the completion of the Hazitek FLOAT&M project, a pioneering project offering new solutions for floating wind O&M, the Energy Cluster organised a workshop at WindEurope to present the progress made in this area and the results of the FLOAT&M project.
The event featured a presentation by the World Forum for Offshore Wind, which outlined the current state of the art in operating and maintenance techniques for floating wind turbines. Some of the subsequent presentations reflected on the technological situation and the needs of the sector.
As wind farm operators and OEMs respectively, Iberdrola and Siemens Gamesa gave their views on the current situation in offshore wind energy and the needs they foresee for floating wind energy. They find parallels between the two technologies in some cases, but it is clear that research will be needed in many areas to resolve the remaining issues in the O&M of floating wind.
Saitec Offshore Technologies gave a presentation describing the experience of the DemoSATH platform and the lessons learned in the five months of operating the platform. Although this was not a long period of time, an analysis of the turbine's performance was provided, highlighting some of the key challenges for operating and maintaining the turbine in the next stages.
The event was brought to a close by two R&D projects that aim to shed some light on floating wind O&M solutions in the near future. First, Esteyco and Liftra talked about the ATOMS project, a solution for replacing large floating wind turbine components in situ. They also unveiled a new joint venture between the two companies, Solve Wind, which will develop this new technology into a commercial product. To round off the event, a presentation followed on the results of the FLOAT&M project, where Saitec, the project coordinator, outlined the challenges of the project and the results achieved after three years of work.
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Cluster Activities
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