Spanish-Japanese renewable energy developer Univergy International has formed a special purpose company with European offshore engineering outfit Saitec to develop floating wind projects off Japan using the latter’s SATH (Swinging Around Twin Hull) concept.
The SATH design, which is based on a joined pair of cylindrical pre-stressed concrete hulls anchored to the seabed via a "single point mooring (SPM) system" that allows the unit to rotate like a weathervane to face the wind, has been put through an extensive part-scale testing campaign in wave tanks at the University of Cantabria's Instituto de Hidráulica Ambiental, with go-ahead for a full-scale prototype now expected before year-end.
