Statoil has made the final investment decision for its Hywind pilot park in the North Sea.
The decision paves the way for investments of around NOK2billion, which represents a 60-70% cost reduction per MW from the Hywind demo project in Norway.
The scheme, which would be the world’s first floating wind farm, will be located off Scotland’s Peterhead coast.
“Statoil is proud to develop the world’s first floating wind farm. Our objective with the Hywind pilot park is to demonstrate the feasibility of future commercial, utility-scale floating wind farms. This will further increase the global market potential for offshore wind energy, contributing to realising our ambition of profitable growth in renewable energy and other low-carbon solutions,” said Irene Rummelhoff, Statoil’s executive vice president for New Energy Solutions.
The pilot park will cover around 4 square kilometres, at a water depth of 95-120 metres. The average wind speed in this area of the North Sea is around 10 metres per second.
Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Amber Rudd added: “This is fantastic news for Scotland and the whole of the UK, demonstrating that we are open for business and that the UK’s offshore wind industry continues to go from strength to strength.
“This exciting project is a great example of how innovation can help to power our homes and add to our energy mix – offering clean, secure energy to Britain’s hardworking families and businesses.”
Yesterday, the Scottish Government approved plans for the offshore first.
Offshore construction will likely begin next year, and a completion date has been set for 2017.
Construction comes after a six year study of a prototype installed off the island of Karmøy in Norway.
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