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Hywind Scotland

Coordinates: 57°28′59″N 1°21′00″W / 57.483°N 1.35°W / 57.483; -1.35
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Hywind Scotland
Map
CountryScotland, United Kingdom
LocationScotland, Grampian
Coordinates57°28′59″N 1°21′00″W / 57.483°N 1.35°W / 57.483; -1.35
StatusOffline, undergoing heavy maintenance
Construction began2016
Commission dateOctober 2017
Construction cost£264m
OwnersEquinor (75%)
Masdar (25%)
OperatorHywind (Scotland) Limited
Wind farm
TypeOffshore
Max. water depth95–120 m (312–394 ft)
Distance from shore25 km (16 mi)
Hub height101 m (331 ft)
Rotor diameter154 m (505 ft)
Rated wind speed10.1 m/s (36 km/h)
Site area15 km2 (5.8 sq mi)
Power generation
Units operational5 x 6 MW
Make and modelSiemens Wind Power SWT-6.0-154
Units planned5 × 6 MW
Nameplate capacity30 MW
Capacity factor54%
Buchan Deep
Buchan Deep

Hywind Scotland is the world's first commercial wind farm using floating wind turbines, situated 29 kilometres (18 mi) off Peterhead, Scotland. The farm has five 6 MW Siemens direct-drive turbines on Hywind floating monopiles, with a total capacity of 30 MW.[1] It is operated by Hywind (Scotland) Limited, a joint venture of Equinor (75%) and Masdar (25%).[2]

Equinor (then: Statoil) launched the world's first operational deep-water floating large-capacity wind turbine, the US$71 million 2.3 MW Hywind ($31/W), in 2009.[3][4] The 120 metres (390 ft) tall tower with a 2.3 MW Siemens turbine was towed from the Åmøy fjord and 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) offshore into the North Sea in 220 metres (720 ft) deep water, off of Stavanger, Norway on 9 June 2009 for a two-year test run,[5] but remains working at the site[6][7] while surviving 40 m/s (89 mph) wind speed and 19 m waves.[8]

In 2015, the company received permission to install the wind farm in Scotland, in an attempt at reducing the cost relative to the original Hywind,[9][10] in accordance with the Scottish Government's commitment for cost reduction.[11] Manufacturing for the project, with a budgeted cost of NOK2 billion (£152m), started in 2016 in Spain, Norway and Scotland. The turbines were assembled at Stord in Norway in summer 2017 using the Saipem 7000 floating crane, and the finished turbines were moved to near Peterhead.[12][13][14] Three suction anchors hold each turbine.[15] Hywind Scotland was commissioned in October 2017.[16][17][18]

While cost was reduced compared to the very expensive Hywind One at $31m/MW,[8][19][4] it still came with a final capital cost of £264m, or £8.8m/MW, approximately three times the capital cost of fixed offshore windfarms.[20] Measured by unit cost, Hywind's levelized cost of electricity (LCoE) is then £180/MWh ($248/MWh), about three times the typical LCoE of a fixed offshore wind farm at £55/MWh ($75.7/MWh).[21] The high cost is partly compensated by £165.27/MWh from Renewable Obligation Certificates.[22]

In its first 5 years of operation the facility has averaged a capacity factor of 54%, sometimes in 10 meter waves.[23][24][25][26][27] By shutting down at the worst conditions, it survived Hurricane Ophelia, and then Storm Caroline with wind gusts at 160 km/h (99 mph) and waves of 8.2 metres.[28]

The subsequent 88 MW Hywind Tampen (with concrete floating foundations)[29] became operational at the Snorre and Gullfaks oil fields in Norway in 2023[30] at a cost of NOK 8 billion[31] or £600m (£6.8/MW).

In May 2024 all 5 turbines were to be towed back to Norway for several months of the heavy maintenance[32][33] of replacing the main bearings. All turbines were operating again by October 2024.[34][35][36]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Hill, Joshua S. (16 February 2018). "Hywind Scotland, World's First Floating Wind Farm, Performing Better Than Expected". CleanTechnica. Sustainable Enterprises Media, Inc. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  2. ^ "Masdar joint venture Hywind Scotland surpasses targets". The Gulf Today. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  3. ^ Ramsey Cox (February–March 2010). "Water Power + Wind Power = Win!". Mother Earth News. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  4. ^ a b Patel, Sonal (1 December 2009). "Top Plants: Hywind Floating Wind Turbine, North Sea, Norway". POWER Magazine. Archived from the original on 30 May 2022.
  5. ^ Patel, Prachi (22 June 2009). "Floating Wind Turbines to Be Tested". IEEE Spectrum. Archived from the original on 28 June 2009. Retrieved 25 June 2009.
  6. ^ Førde, Thomas (8 January 2019). "Equinor selger verdens første flytende vindmølle til Unitech". Tu.no (in Norwegian). Teknisk Ukeblad. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020.
  7. ^ "Solstad Offshore Installs Subsea Cable for TetraSpar Floater". Offshore Engineer Magazine. 16 September 2021. Archived from the original on 2 December 2021.
  8. ^ a b Vicente, Rubén Durán (21 April 2020). "Pathway to cost reduction in floating wind technology" (PDF). corewind.eu.
  9. ^ "How Hywind works - equinor.com". www.equinor.com. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021.
  10. ^ "Hywind Scotland remains the UK's best performing offshore wind farm - equinor.com". www.equinor.com. 23 March 2021.
  11. ^ "Chapter 6: Innovation and Cost Reduction". www.gov.scot. 28 October 2020. Archived from the original on 28 November 2021.
  12. ^ "Nå starter monteringen av Statoils flytende vindmøller". SYSLA. 17 February 2017. Archived from the original on 21 February 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  13. ^ "Gigant-moduler til verdens første flytende vindpark har ankommet Stordbase". Teknisk Ukeblad. 16 February 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  14. ^ "Floating turbines deliver first electricity". BBC News. 18 October 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  15. ^ Jannicke Nilsen (20 April 2016). "Sjekk dimensjonene: Disse kjettingene skal feste Statoils flytende vindmølle til havbunnen". Teknisk Ukeblad. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  16. ^ McCulloch, Scott (2 November 2015). "Statoil to pilot floating wind farm scheme offshore Peterhead". Daily Record.
  17. ^ "Floating wind farm to be installed off Peterhead". BBC News. 2 November 2015.
  18. ^ "Hywind Scotland Pilot Park Offshore Wind Farm". 4COffshore.
  19. ^ "Hywind Scotland is 'proving potential' of floating offshore wind". 23 March 2021. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021.
  20. ^ "Hywind, low economics: The cost of floating offshore wind power". GWPF. Global Warming Policy Foundation.
  21. ^ "UK/US study assesses wake steering for floating wind". www.offshore-mag.com. 8 July 2021. Archived from the original on 8 July 2021.
  22. ^ Moestue, Herman (5 September 2018). "Floating wind set for deep cost cuts, high subsidies". Montel. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022.
  23. ^ "Hywind Scotland reaches 5 years in operation". reNEWS - Renewable Energy News. 29 December 2022. Archived from the original on 29 December 2022.
  24. ^ "Equinor and ORE Catapult collaborating to share Hywind Scotland operational data - equinor.com". www.equinor.com. 28 November 2019.
  25. ^ "UK offshore wind capacity factors". energynumbers.info. 31 January 2020. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
  26. ^ "Hywind Scotland capacity factor". 28 March 2022.
  27. ^ "Hywind Scotland floating wind farm boasts of 57.1% capacity factor". Renewablesnow.com. 23 March 2021. Archived from the original on 23 March 2021.
  28. ^ "Outstanding load factor performance from the world's first floating wind farm - Modern Power Systems". www.modernpowersystems.com. 16 May 2018. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021.
  29. ^ "First Turbine Installed at World's Largest Floating Offshore Wind Farm". Offshore Wind. 7 June 2022.
  30. ^ "Equinor officially opens 88MW Hywind Tampen". 23 August 2023.
  31. ^ "Havvindanlegget Hywind Tampen sprakk med 44 prosent". Europower | Siste nyheter fra fornybarbransjen. 6 October 2023.
  32. ^ "Equinor to return Hywind turbines to Norway for 'heavy maintenance'". 15 January 2024.
  33. ^ https://marine.gov.scot/sites/default/files/environmental_report_redacted_7.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  34. ^ Maritime, Global (10 October 2024). "Heavy maintenance campaign completed on Hywind Scotland floating offshore wind farm". www.globalmaritime.com.
  35. ^ Vanheeghe, Thibault (29 July 2024). "Hywind Scotland's Heavy Maintenance: Tow-to-Port Approach". Sea Impact - Offshore Wind Market Intelligence.
  36. ^ "Sarens Supporting Maintenance Campaign for Hywind Scotland, the World". Sarens (in Spanish). 14 October 2024.