Located offshore Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the wind farm is designed to generate clean electricity required to power approximately 20,000 households. It is scheduled to be commissioned in late 2017.
As part of the deal, Statoil and Masdar will share the development risk while Masdar will cover 25% of past and future costs for the project.
Statoil New Energy Solutions executive vice-president Irene Rummelhoff said: "The Hywind Scotland pilot park has the potential to open attractive new markets for renewable energy production worldwide.”
Upon completion of the deal, Statoil will have 75% stake in the Hywind Scotland wind farm while Masdar will own the remaining interest.
The project is aimed at demonstrating cost efficient and low risk solutions for future commercial scale floating wind farms.
Rummelhoff added: “This will further increase the global market potential for offshore wind energy, contributing to realizing Statoil’s ambition of profitable growth in renewable energy and other low-carbon solutions.”
The Hywind Scotland project will feature five floating wind turbines, each with 6MW capacity, which will be anchored to the seabed.
Masdar CEO Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi said: "Hywind Scotland represents the next stage in the evolution of the offshore wind industry, combining the project management experience and technical expertise of one of the world’s largest offshore energy players – and our own capabilities in renewable energy development acquired over the last decade in the UK and international markets.”
Masdar expects the investment in Hywind Scotland to increase its gross electricity generation capacity to 1.06GW in the UK.
Image: Illustration of the offshore floating wind farm. Photo: courtesy of Statoil ASA.
