To be located 25km off the coast of Peterhead, the proposed Hywind Scotland facility with annual generation capacity of around 135GWh is said to become the largest floating offshore wind development in the UK.
Statoil plans to begin onshore construction in 2015-16, and offshore construction in 2016-17. The pilot project is expected to become operational in 2017.
The turbines at Hywind floating wind farm will be attached to the seabed by a three-point mooring spread and anchoring system.
Inter-array of cables will be used to connect the turbines and the electricity is transferred from the wind farm to shore at Peterhead via an export cable.
Statoil new energy solutions executive vice president Irene Rummelhoff said: "Floating wind represents a new, significant and increasingly competitive renewable energy source. Statoil’s objective with developing this pilot park is to demonstrate a commercial, utility-scale floating wind solution, to further increase the global market potential.
"We are proud to develop this unique project in Scotland, in a region that has optimal wind conditions, a strong supply chain within oil and gas and supportive public policies."
According to Carbon Trust, a not-for-dividend company that helps organizations reduce their carbon emissions, floating wind concepts have the potential to reduce generating costs to below £100/MWh in commercial deployments, with the leading concepts such as Hywind, with even lower costs of £85-£95MWh.
Scottish Enterprise energy and clean technologies director Maggie McGinlay said: "We’ve been working closely with our companies to directly link them with Statoil for some considerable time to ensure they are in the best position possible to take advantage of the significant opportunities we know this development will bring.
"This announcement is a clear indication that Scotland’s growing strengths in offshore wind are recognised at an international level, and we’ll continue to work closely with our supply chain to ensure they can capitalise on potential opportunities such as this, both here and overseas."
Image: The turbines at Hywind floating wind farm will be attached to the seabed by a three-point mooring spread and anchoring system. Photo: courtesy of The Scottish Government.
