BBC ‘A floating offshore wind farm will be installed in the North Sea off the coast of Peterhead after the Scottish government gave it consent. Norwegian energy firm Statoil has been granted a licence for the pilot scheme of five turbines. They will be attached to the seabed by a three-point mooring spread and anchoring system, making them easy to install in deep water. It is expected that the Hywind project could power up to 19,900 homes. The turbines will transport electricity via an export cable from the pilot park to the shore at Peterhead in Aberdeenshire just over 15 miles (25km) away. The pilot project is designed to demonstrate the technology on a commercial scale, according to Statoil.

Construction is planned to start as early as next year with final commissioning in 2017, according the company. Currently offshore wind turbines are rigidly attached to the seabed which makes them difficult and expensive to install in deep water. The Carbon Trust believes that floating wind concepts have the potential to reduce generating costs to below £100/MWh in commercial deployments, with the leading concepts such as Hywind producing even lower costs of £85-£95MWh. To see more go to:

http://www.statoil.com/en/NewsAndMedia/News/2015/Pages/03Nov_HywindScotland_news_page.aspx