MARINE CIVILS
8 The DemoSATH project has completed the next step of its offshore works, with the mooring system now in place
FLOATING TURBINE MOORING COMPLETED FOR SPAIN’S GRID The DemoSATH mooring, anchoring and quick connect solution will connect the first floating turbine to the Spanish grid, scheduled to be trialled later this year. The project, led by Saitec Offshore Technologies in collaboration with RWE, has achieved a key milestone by completing the pre-lay of the mooring system. “It is great to see that the DemoSATH project has completed the next step of the offshore works, with the mooring system now in place – an important milestone on our way to the installation and commissioning of the floating turbine later this year,” said Chris Willow, head of floating wind development at RWE Renewables. ”We as RWE see great potential for floating wind farms worldwide – especially to unlock opportunities in countries with deeper coastal waters.”
The installation of the SATH mooring lines worked perfectly. In the future, we will use them in all our commercial projects that are currently in the planning stage. The operations have been a great success since the earliest stage of design and the execution has been outstanding
Landmark project Maersk Supply Service undertook the installation of the six mooring lines and six anchors of DemoSATH at the BIMEP test site from the anchor-handling vessel Maersk Mariner. The work comprised the installation of hybrid lines of chain and fibre rope and six drag anchors with Maersk Mariner. The mobilisation and loading of the mooring lines elements and preparation of the vessel was done at Punta Sollana quay, in the Port of Bilbao, where the onshore construction of the floater is currently under way. These lines will be recovered from the seabed for a plug and play connection to the unit later this year. “The installation of the SATH mooring lines worked perfectly. In the future, we will use them in all our commercial projects that are currently in the planning stage. The operations have been a great success since the earliest stage of design and the execution has been outstanding,” said Araceli Martínez, chief of engineering at Saitec Offshore Technologies.
Meanwhile, the onshore construction of the prestressed concrete floating platform continues at the Port of Bilbao. Works on the transition piece, single point mooring and boat landing are also carried out as well as installation works inside the floaters. This will be followed by the launching operation to put afloat the platform that will be then transported to its final deployment site at BIMEP. The DemoSATH means a stepping stone in the SATH Technology commercialisation roadmap. The 2MW unit will be tested against real sea operating conditions in a harsh Atlantic environment. The test field at BiMEP facilities are two miles off the Biscay coast, where the sea is 85 metres deep. This project aims to collect data and gain real-life knowledge from the construction procedure, operation and maintenance of DemoSATH floating wind platform for a period of two years. DemoSATH will generate sufficient electricity to cover the energy demand of more than 2,000 local households.
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Major project proves importance of waterways Remediation of a former coal park by the Awirs power plant near the Autonomous Port of Liège in Belgium has been completed after three months mobilising 220,000 tonnes of soil by waterway. Envisan, a subsidary of civil engineer Jan de Nul, also used its physiochemical washing process to transform almost 120,000 tonnes of the soil into sand and aggregate so it can be re-used in the construction industry. The works were carried out in deconstructing a former coal park at the Awirs power plant in Flémalle, near Liège. Over three months, 120,000 tonnes soil were extracted from the coal yard and 100,000 tonnes brought back via the port, which is Belgium’s first inland port. ”This made it possible to take 120 lorries off the road for wach waterway transport and to reduce CO2 emissions by using an eco-friendly means of transport,” said Raf Anné, Project Director for the site with ENGIE, which was also involved in the project. ”This responsible management approach has been implemented by ENGIE since 2016 for the removal of ash from the Hénâ slag heap at the Awirs, from where they are transported via a covered conveyor belt to the Meuse River. From there, it is transported by barge to the cement plants. Just like ash, soil has a second lease of life.” Following the clearance of the site ENGIE will build a combined gas and steam turbine power plant.
8 The Awirs site that relied on water transport to mobilise 200,000 tonnes of soil
JUNE 2022 | 71
