STATOIL HAS MADE THE FINAL INVESTMENT DECISION TO BUILD THE WORLD’S FIRST FLOATING WIND FARM: THE HYWIND PILOT PARK, OFFSHORE PETERHEAD.
Statoil is installing a 30 MW wind turbine farm on floating structures at Buchan Deep, 25 km offshore Peterhead, harnessing Scottish wind resources to provide renewable energy to the mainland. The pilot park will cover around 4 square km and will power around 20,000 households.
All five of the 6MW floating turbines were floated after a successful operation in June 2017 ready to be towed to Scotland, with production expected to begin late 2017.
The 30 MW pilot project will operate in waters exceeding 100 metres of depth, with an objective to demonstrate cost efficient and low risk solutions for commercial scale parks.
The technology that will be used in the pilot project has been tested with excellent results in a demonstration project off the coast of Norway.
Floating wind represents a new and significant renewable energy source that will complement an existing and expanding array of alternative energy projects in Scotland. This pilot project is expected to demonstrate the feasibility of multiple floating wind turbines in a region that has optimal wind conditions, a strong supply chain within oil and gas and supportive public policies such as enhanced support for floating offshore wind pilot parks under the Renewables Obligation (Scotland).