Construction of the world’s largest floating wind farm will now begin off the Aberdeenshire coast, following the Crown Estate granting a lease to the Norwegian multinational oil and gas company Statoil.
It is scheduled to begin generating electricity by the end of next year.
The Hywind project will see five 6MW turbines deployed in deeper water than any previous offshore wind turbines around the UK coast. They will be at a site called Buchan Deep, and the closest turbine to the shore will be less than 16 miles from Peterhead.
The technology has been tested by Statoil (largest shareholder the Norwegian Government) in a demonstration project off the coast of Norway.
Rather than using fixed foundations on or in the seabed to support the wind turbines, the Hywind project consists of a floating steel tube filled with ballast, which is fastened to the seabed.
The project was given planning consent from Marine Scotland last October and Statoil has taken the final investment decision to proceed with the project. Preliminary on-shore and near-shore works will start later this year and erection of the turbines is due to begin in 2017, with first power being generated towards the end of the year.
Leif Delp, Project Director for the Hywind Scotland project said:
“We are very pleased to develop this project in Scotland, in a region with a huge wind resource and an experienced supply chain from oil and gas. Through the hard work of industry and supportive government policies, the UK and Scotland is taking a position at the forefront of developing offshore wind as a competitive new energy source.”
Ronnie Quinn, General Manager of The Crown Estate’s Scotland Portfolio said: “We have been working closely with Statoil, Scottish Government and other partners to help bring forward this innovative project which helps consolidate the position of Scotland and the UK as a global leader in the offshore renewables sector.
“Hywind is the first of its kind in the world. Its successful operation will demonstrate the viability of floating wind in deep water locations and bring forward cost reduction techniques that will move the whole sector forward."
He said the development of emerging technologies, from floating wind to tidal current energy, had placed Scotland in a very strong position to secure global investment in low carbon energy.
Lindsay Roberts, Senior Policy Manager at industry body Scottish Renewables, said: “The granting of Hywind’s lease marks an important milestone for the project. Floating offshore wind is an exciting technology with huge, global potential, and it’s great to have this world first in Scottish waters.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel