THE WORLD’S LARGEST FLOATING WIND FARM WILL BE OPERATIONAL NEXT YEAR

May 21, 2016 by

Norwegian company Statoil is building the world’s largest offshore floating wind farm near Scotland – and it’s set to start producing energy as early as 2017. The Hywind Scotland Pilot Park wind farm will feature five turbines generating six megawatts of power each.

Statoil, wind energy, offshore wind, floating wind turbines, wind farm, offshore wind farm, floating wind farm, world's biggest wind farm, world's largest wind farm, Soctland renewable energyStatoil has pioneered Hywind turbine technology – a different way to construct wind turbines so they’re sturdy even in stormy ocean conditions. Statoil was an oil company before they pursued wind, and they based their approach to turbine design on oil rigs. Hywind turbines are essentially steel cylinders stabilized by ballast and connected to the ocean floor, making them more economical than traditional offshore wind turbines. Statoil tested their technology with one turbine back in 2009, and they say that the new Pilot Park will “demonstrate cost efficient and low risk solutions for commercial scale parks.”

Related: America’s first offshore wind farm to be completed by the end of this year

Statoil Project Director Leif Delp said, “We are very pleased to develop this project in Scotland, in a region with a huge wind resource and an experienced supply chain from oil and gas. Through the hard work of industry and supportive government policies, the UK and Scotland is taking a position at the forefront of developing offshore wind as a competitive new energy source.”

Offshore wind is big in Northern Europe and the UK, with over 90 percent of global total offshore wind built in that region. Yet Japan, China, Germany, and the United States are beginning to enter the race. There are over 40 projects all across the world currently being built or designed.

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    The WindFlip barge concept was designed to simplify the installation of offshore wind turbines and in the process has managed to be a solution that also cuts cost. Installing offshore wind turbines can be an expensive task — the process requires skilled technicians to assemble turbines at sea, and to anchor them at great depths. Alternatively, the WindFlip barge allows turbines to be assembled completely on shore, towed to their location, and then simply tipped into place — thus minimizing the need for expensive work at sea. Check out a video of the WindFlip in action after the jump.

    The WindFlip is just a concept but the company (based in Norway) is working with Norway’s Statoil — an energy company that makes a floating wind turbine — in order to specialize the WindFlip to work with Statoil’s Hywind turbine. The WindFlip measures 100 meters long and 30 meters wide, and the barge is capable of carrying a 65 meter tall 15 megawatt hour Hywind fully assembled.

    The WindFlip is designed to carry turbines out to sea at an almost horizontal position which minimizes draft and allows the barge to motor along at about eight knots — which the WindFlip team says is eight times better than the current competition. Once on site the WindFlip starts to fill 27 interior ballasts with water sequentially from the stern aft-ward which tips the WindFlip vertically with the Turbine in tow. The barge then backs away from the turbine allowing it to be anchored in place while injecting compressed air back into its ballasts, tipping horizontally and readying itself for the next tow.

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