Hywind Scotland, the world’s first floating wind farm, has started delivering electricity to the grid today.
The 30 megawatt (MW) wind farm, which is operated by Norway-based energy firm Statoil and UAE partner Masdar, is set 25 kilometers offshore Peterhead in Aberdeenshire and will power around 20,000 households.
At the opening today, Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon, said Scotland had positioned itself as a “world centre for energy innovation”.
Linked with the project, Statoil and Masdar will also install Batwind, a 1 megawatt hour (MWh) lithium battery storage solution for offshore wind energy.
Innovation + O&G expertise + #lowcarbon = world’s 1st floating wind farm! 🎉 #Hywind Scotland producing 👉 https://t.co/WjfxRdbzE8 @Masdar pic.twitter.com/OsKALLNV8F
— Statoil (@Statoil) October 18, 2017
#Hywind Scotland is built to withstand wind speeds of up to 40 metres per second, and ocean waves 20 metres high 🌊 🌊 🌊
— Masdar (@Masdar) October 18, 2017
“Hywind can be used for water depths up to 800 meters, thus opening up areas that so far have been inaccessible for offshore wind,” said Irene Rummelhoff, executive vice president of new energy solutions at Statoil.
“The learnings from Hywind Scotland will pave the way for new global market opportunities for floating offshore wind energy.”
Giles Dickson, chief executive of Wind Europe, said the launch showed that floating offshore wind was now a viable technology ready to be rolled out on an industrial scale.
“The potential for floating is massive: 4,000 GW [gigawatts] in Europe alone.”
Take a closer look at the Hywind Scotland wind farm in the photos and video below
(Click or tap on the images to see them in full screen)
Read more: The government has confirmed up to £557m for new renewable energy auctions