Equinor is meeting members of Western Isles council today as it aims to roll out its Hywind technology.
The Norwegian energy giant, formerly known as Statoil, set up the world’s first floating windfarm off the coast of Peterhead last year.
Equinor is exploring the feasibility of an array of floating windfarms in the Atlantic Ocean, a few miles off the isle of Lewis.
A Western Isles spokesman confirmed that the company is carrying out early scoping for commercial deployment of the floating offshore wind technology.
Other sites in Scotland, France and Ireland are also being considered.
Availability of sites in Scotland will be determined by the next leasing round from the Crown Estate, which is responsible for the seabed, and a Marine Scotland plan to be published next year.
Formal selection of a site will not take place until 2021/22, with deployment set for after 2026.
A Western Isles spokesperson said: “In common with all the other areas under consideration, the Hywind team is meeting with local stakeholders to look at supply chain readiness.”
The 30MW Hywind Scotland windfarm started production in October, delivering electricity to Scottish homes.
A spokeswoman for the Hywind team said: “We are continuously searching for new profitable renewable projects and, with the experience we already have with Hywind Scotland, it’s natural that Scotland is one of the locations globally that we are looking at.
“The purpose of this meeting in Stornoway was to gain knowledge and establish connections with the local supply chain as part of our global review.”
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