World’s First Floating Wind Turbine

The world’s first floating wind turbine has been towed out to sea off Norway’s coast. Called as the Hywind, this odd electricity-generating wind turbine will be tested off shore for two years. It’s success could open road to commercialization and large scale development of floating wind turbine technology.

Alexandra Beck Gjorv of the energy company Statoil said the experiment “should help move offshore wind farms out of sight.” Gjorv noted that winds are stronger and more consistent at sea. So, floating wind farms could provide an additional source of energy for countries that have run out of space for their onshore wind farms, or where there is not enough wind on land.

The Hywind is a 2.3 megawatt wind turbine, designed and built by German engineering company Siemens AG. It combines technologies from both the wind farming industry and the oil and gas sectors. The above ground portion of this wind turbine is 65-meter tall, while the rotor blades on the floating wind turbine will have a diameter of 80 metres. The floatation element will have a draft of some 100 metres below the sea surface, and will be moored to the seabed using three anchor points. The wind turbine can be located in waters with depths ranging from 120 to 700 metres.

“Floating wind power is not mature technology yet, and the road to commercialization and large scale development is long. An important aspect of the project is therefore research and development,” says Alexandra Bech Gjørv. The pilot project will be assembled in Åmøyfjorden near Stavanger and is to be located some 10 kilometres offshore Karmøy in the county of Rogaland.

Category: Technology | Tags: Floating Wind Turbine, Hywind, Power, Technology