Commercial-scale floating wind farm takes shape off Scottish coast
The construction of the world’s first commercial-scale floating wind farm is almost complete its developers have announced.
The £190m Hywind project, which is 75 per cent owned by Statoil and 25 per cent owned by Abu Dhabi energy firm Masdar, will see five 6MW floating wind turbines installed in up to 120mof water at Buchan Deep, around 25km from Peterhead on Scotland’s north east coast.
The 30MW wind farm, which is due to begin operating later this year (2017) is expected to generate around 135GWh of energy per year, enough electricity to power approximately 20,000 households.
Unlike conventional offshore turbines, which are fixed to the seabed by foundations, the Hywind device is attached to a cylindrical structure that floats in the water. Tethers anchored to the seafloor hold it in place.
Earlier this month, the first of five turbines for the wind farm was shipped from Stord in Norway, and the installation of all five turbines is expected to be complete by the end of August.
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