EMEC eyes 100MW floating wind demonstrator

The site, located 20km to the west of Orkney, will host six individual berths for floating turbines of up to 20MW rated capacity. Four of the six berths will be grid-connected, while the other two will be reserved for power-to-X applications. Independent analysis by BiGGAR Economics has found that the demo site has the potential to generate £690m gross value add (GVA) to the UK economy, £442m of which will accrue in Scotland.

“EMEC’s floating wind test site has been designed specifically for floating wind developers to de-risk their technologies, putting turbines, floating structures, moorings and other components to the test in an energetic offshore environment,” said Matthew Finn, commercial director of EMEC. “This will enable performance to be refined on a wide range of floating wind technologies prior to scale-up through ScotWind and beyond.

“We want to ensure the benefit of the UK being a first mover on offshore energy technologies is firmly cemented here. Establishing a test centre of this nature in Scotland will encourage international companies to establish themselves here and sends a clear market signal to the Scottish supply chain.”