Scotland: Hywind Scotland, the world’s first floating wind farm, built by the company Statoil, has exceeded expectations of producing electricity off the coast of Aberdeenshire within three months, reports said.
The plant produced 65 per cent of its theoretical capacity in November, December and January. In comparison, plants based on shore could produce only between 45 and 60 per cent of their theoretical capacity in the same time period.
Company officials are upbeat about the possibilities as it comes in the wake of a tough environment and challenges as the floating wind farm is subject to hurricane, eight-foot waves, and winter storms.
“We tested Hywind technology under harsh weather for many years and it works,” said Beate Myking, senior vice-president of offshore wind operations in Statoil.
“It is encouraging to see how well the turbines have performed have coped. Hywind Scotland’s high availability ensured that the volume of electricity generated is substantially higher than expected,” said Beate Myking
Offshore wind farms are usually installed in shallow waters off the coast.
However, this experiment has shown that there is potential for establishing wind farms via floating system off the coasts of places that have a steep drop off in water depth.
Hywind has five turbines that each produce 6 megawatts. They’re floating over waters that are 328 feet deep.
