Statoil has made the final investment decision to build the world’s first floating wind farm: The Hywind pilot park offshore Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
The decision triggers investments of around NOK 2 billion, realising a 60-70 per cent cost reduction per MW from the Hywind demo project in Norway. 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. Statoil will install a 30MW wind turbine farm on floating structures at Buchan Deep, 25 kilometres offshore Peterhead and production start is expected in late 2017.
