First floating wind turbine is up and running
Offshore wind farms are nothing new. Plant a wind turbine on the ocean bottom just like you would on land. However, a wind turbine company in Norway has found a way to combine oil platform technology with wind turbine technology so wind turbines actually float on top of the ocean rather than just stick up.
StratoilHydro created the Hywind pilot floating wind turbine to see if wind energy could be harvested further out to sea in deeper waters than those in which offshore wind farms currently exist. The company is taking a different approach than SeaEnergy Renewables. however, both are attempting to combine oil platform and wind turbine technology. StratoilHydro’s approach has less visible infrastructure than SeaEnergy Renewables. Unlike SeaEnergy Renewables (45 meters or 147.6 feet) and other current offshore wind farms, the Hywind can be located 120-700 meters (394 –2,297 feet) deep.
Hywind is actually anchored to the ocean floor by “a three-point mooring spread.” The actual installation is composed of a long cylinder filled with water and rocks as ballast and extending 100 meters (328 feet) underwater. The floating wind turbine is connected to a power cable on the ocean floor that runs back to Skudeneshavn at the southern end of Karmøy, in Norway.
The one floating wind turbine pilot is essentially a two-year demonstration project. Any energy generated by the floating turbine will be monitored by Haugaland Kraft receiving station. The pilot project is less about generating commercial energy currently than it is about proving that floating wind turbines are a viable renewable energy source.
Our goal with the Hywind pilot to test how wind and waves affect the structure, learn how the operating concept can be optimized and identify technology gaps.
Of course, StatoilHydro is planning on commercializing the concept as soon as they have all of the kinks worked out and have the costs down to a competitive level. The company has already invested $68 million dollars (400 million NOK).
It will be interesting to see which deep sea installation works the best. StatoilHydro or SeaEnergy Renewables.
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