Scotland Announces the First Offshore Floating Wind Turbine by Statoil

The Government of Scotland has announced the completion of its 2.3 MW prototype, floating offshore Hywind wind turbine module positioned 10 KM offshore at Karmoy in Norway in 200 m deep water. The offshore wind turbine is constructed by Statoil, an international energy company from Norway.

The floating wind turbine designed to work up to 700 m depth is said to be performing beyond its rated capacity and delivering power to the grid since the starting of the tests from September 2009. The government is planning to install three to five such units in its shore lines to check the commercial feasibility of the project. Statoil is planning to test the wind turbine in places off Norway and Maine to check its functionality and a decision on this move will be taken next year.

Earlier Alex Salmond, Scottish First Minister, met the officials from Statoil and discussed the move of the company to perform commercial testing for the Hywind floating wind turbines in deep sea waters either off the coast of Aberdeenshire or Lewis. The minister mentioned in the press release about the higher offshore wind energy potential of his country and its intention to develop a suitable renewable energy technology to harvest the wind potential. He added that while the offshore wind power generation requires around £30 billion in investments it also offers around 20,000 jobs for the people of the country while drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions.