The largest floating wind farm in the world has been approved for construction by the Scottish Government.
The project will be undertaken by Statoil, a Norwegian multinational oil and gas company headquartered in Stavanger, Norway.
The announcement of government approval for construction was made at the same time Statoil made their last investment decision regarding the project being built.
Largest floating wind farm facts
The largest floating wind farm project will be called the ‘Hywind pilot park’ and will be located at Peterhead, which is in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Five 6MW wind turbine generator (WTG) units will be installed at Buchan Deep, which is offshore from Peterhead, around 26 kilometres.
The wind turbines will have a distance of 720- 1,600 metres in between them, and they are firmly attached to the seabed with an anchoring system and mooring spread.
The units are expected to product between 15 to 30 GWh of electricity each year.
Completion of the largest floating wind farm is expected to finish around late 2017, which by then will be generating enough electricity to power roughly 20,000 households.
Statoil proud to develop first of its kind
According to the executive vice president for Statoil’s New Energy Solutions, Irene Rummelhoff, the company is proud to be manufacturing the first floating wind farm.
The Hywind pilot park’s goal is to illustrate that floating wind farms which are utility-scale and commercial, are feasible option for the future.
“This will further increase the global market potential for offshore wind energy, contributing to realising our ambition of profitable growth in renewable energy and other low-carbon solutions,” said Ms Rummelhoff.
The project will vary from other ‘more traditional’ floating wind farm designs, due to the farm being installed in locations further out the sea, in order to utilise the strongest possible wind speeds.
As a consequence, the turbines in the Hywind pilot park must be sturdy enough to take on these strong winds in the more volatile offshore conditions.
The Deputy First Minister of Scotland, John Swinney, said that the Hywind project was very exciting advancement in the industry of innovative technology and power generation.
“…it’s a real testament to our energy sector expertise and skilled workforce that Statoil chose Scotland for the world’s largest floating wind farm,” Mr Swinney said.
“The momentum is building around the potential for floating offshore wind technology to unlock deeper water sites. The ability to leverage existing infrastructure and supply chain capabilities from the offshore oil and gas industry create the ideal conditions to position Scotland as a world leader in floating wind technology.”
The Scottish Government has used by legislation and policy over the recent years to demonstrate their commitment renewable energy sources and battling climate change.
The government is held to a legal commitment by the Climate Change Act 2009 to reduce emissions before 2020 by 42 per cent, followed with another eight per cent by 2050.
The ultimate goal of the Scottish Government is to have 100 per cent of electricity generated from renewable energy sources by 2020.
Marine renewables have been identified as a key player in reducing emissions and utilising renewable energy, according to the Marine Energy Roadmap.
Renewable power sources such as the Hywind largest floating wind farm are vital projects in shifting the focus on fossil fuels towards more sustainable and environmentally friendly energy generation.
Photo courtesy of Statkraft
