[On the Ground] Floating Offshore, Powering "2,500 Homes": "Unfazed by 13-Meter Waves"

[A City of Molten Steel Makes Wind] 1

Inside a Floating Offshore Wind Demonstration Site in Northern Spain
Off the Basque Coast of the Bay of Biscay in Northern Spain
Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Stands About 70 Meters Tall
Concrete Cata

Off the coast of Armintza on the Biscay coast in Spain's northern Basque Country. On October 2 (local time), amid somewhat cloudy weather, a wind turbine blade was spinning vigorously in the middle of the sea, where the water was 85 meters deep. The blade's movement was clearly visible from a seaside observation deck just 3 km away. The site was the demonstration location for the floating offshore wind project DemoSATH (Demo Swinging Around Twin Hull), where the offshore wind turbine stood about 70 meters tall. The floating structure was 64 meters long and 30 meters wide. Made of concrete rather than steel, it had a catamaran design, with two hulls joined side by side. Although lighter than steel, the structure remained stable as it moved with the wind, thanks to its catamaran design. Electricity generated by wind was transmitted to an onshore substation through a dynamic cable connected to a fixed submarine cable laid on the seabed. Since it first began operating in September 2023, the project has generated enough electricity to supply around 2,500 households in the area offshore.

A floating offshore wind turbine installed at the DemoSATH (Demo Swinging Around Twin Hull) floating offshore wind demonstration project in Spain's Basque Country. Photo provided by Saitec Offshore Engineering.

The DemoSATH project was jointly developed by Saitec Offshore Technologies, an engineering company based in Spain's Basque Country; German energy company RWE; and Japan's Kansai Electric Power. The challenging weather conditions, including high waves and strong winds, were considered to make the area an ideal location for testing floating offshore wind power. The Basque Country provided a site off Armintza for an offshore wind demonstration complex and supported efforts to reduce procedural hurdles arising during the project, including those related to permits.

A floating offshore wind turbine off Armintza on the Biscay coast in Spain’s northern Basque Country is operating on the 2nd (local time). Photo by Lee Hyunju

At a briefing held at the company's headquarters that day, David Carrascosa, CEO of Saitec Offshore Technologies, which led the project, said, "We can produce one 20 MW platform using the same approach as the demonstration project." He added, "For more than three years, we have operated floating offshore wind power reliably even in very rough sea conditions, with maximum wave heights exceeding 13 meters." He said, "We believe we can produce up to about 500 MW of products annually," adding that the company was proposing platform technologies for various projects in several regions, including France, the United Kingdom, and Japan.

The DemoSATH project's key feature is that its products were made using locally sourced materials and labor in the Basque Country. Built from post-tensioned concrete using conventional civil engineering materials and construction methods, the structure can be built using local contractors, materials, and workers near a port. DemoSATH paid about 75% of its construction costs to suppliers located within 25 km of the assembly site at the Port of Bilbao. All of its suppliers were European companies.

CEO Carrascosa said, "The same approach can be applied anywhere with a strong construction and port industry. In Korea, Korean companies can build the entire project platform using Korean materials."

One of the companies involved in the DemoSATH project, Ditrel Industrial (founded in 1983), used to make components for onshore transmission lines but now produces submarine cable connectors for offshore wind equipment. With support from the Basque Energy Cluster, an organization under the Basque Energy Agency, and Basque Trade and Investment, it has participated in demonstration projects and carried out research and development (R&D). Ibon Larea Astobiza, chief technology officer (CTO) of Ditrel, said, "Basque Trade and Investment has supported business networking with local companies around the world, and we have also contacted Korea's LS Cable and Taihan Cable and received requests regarding follow-up cooperation."

David Carrascosa, CEO of Saitec Offshore Technologies, which led the Demo SATH floating offshore wind demonstration project in Spain's Basque Country, discusses the project's progress. Photo by Lee Hyunju

Vicinay Marine, a company that has made mooring systems and chains in the Basque Country for more than 200 years, supplied chains for the project to keep the floating structure from drifting away. Building on its expertise in manufacturing mooring equipment for ships, the company made robust equipment to keep wind turbines in place even amid high waves. Javier Aguirre, sales director for renewable energy projects at Vicinay Marine, said, "We source most of our steel from Spain, but part of our value chain is connected to Korea, including through the supply of some raw materials by SeAH Steel." He added, "We expect offshore wind farm projects to move forward in waters off Busan and elsewhere."

The DemoSATH project built and assembled its offshore wind platform structure at the Port of Bilbao, about a 20-minute drive from the coast. The largest port in northern Spain, the Port of Bilbao is a logistics hub for the wind industry as well as a place to test new components and prototypes. It has a total area of 430 hectares and 22 km of wharves.

Shift from shipbuilding and steelmaking to wind and offshore wind revives local industry

From the 1990s onward, as industry declined amid Asia's growth, Basque companies known across Europe for traditional heavy industries such as steelmaking, shipbuilding, and machine tools restructured their portfolios around emerging sectors, including wind and offshore wind power.

Kimua equipment installed at the Port of Bilbao in northern Spain. Photo by Lee Hyunju.

Slingsintt, an engineering company specializing in lifting solutions that started in the Basque Country in the 1980s, originally supplied lifting equipment for the shipbuilding industry. Beginning in the 2000s, as the industrial transition got underway, it started designing and manufacturing custom lifting tools to raise heavy components of wind turbines, including rotors, nacelles, blades, and towers. Its accumulated expertise found a new market and generated revenue. Wind-related sales now account for 80% of its total revenue. Jose Parra, Slingsintt's domestic sales director and head of its inspection department, said, "Companies specializing in supporting related industries are based within a 100-km radius of our company, making collaboration very easy." He emphasized, "Above all, there is an abundance of skilled technical professionals, and there are also universities recognized worldwide."

Kimua, which provides lifting, transport, and securing solutions for infrastructure components that are difficult to lift because of their weight, is a small but strong company founded in 2011. Although the company itself has a relatively short history, its employees are experienced professionals who have worked at different companies for around 40 years. Kimua was formed after an Energy Cluster comprising around 200 member companies helped facilitate exchanges among industry professionals as they discussed how to make products for customers. Inaki Oreja, CEO of Kimua, said, "Large and small companies in the Basque Country have the capacity to supply products and provide solutions to meet the diverse demands that can arise in the wind industry." He added, "We also work with other nearby companies. Collaboration is helpful because customers often require complete, comprehensive solutions."

Alasne Zabaleta, CEO of Glual Group, speaks to reporters about the company’s global expansion at its headquarters in the Basque Country in northern Spain. Photo by Lee Hyunju.

Founded in 1969, Glual Group drew on its experience in hydraulic systems, design, manufacturing, and testing to establish Glual Energy in 1993, and has since led the provision of hydraulic systems for the renewable energy sector. It now operates production facilities in nine locations around the world, including in the U.S. states of Illinois and Ohio, and has supplied products to more than 80 countries. It also supplied products to a Korean company in 2024.

Alasne Zabaleta, CEO of Glual Group, said, "Our strong engineering capabilities and complete range of products for hydraulic systems have enabled us to provide comprehensive solutions for entire systems." She added, "Korea also has all the technology and infrastructure needed for the wind industry, and its education and talent development are among the best in the world. I believe it will continue to develop into a country with the competitiveness to succeed globally."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.