Contract Proves Floating Wind Business

Floating wind farms just became a serious business

Michael J. Coren, June 22, 2019 (Quartz)

“…[Scotland’s 5-turbine, 30 MW Hywind project is the world’s largest floating wind installation and the first floating wind project to win a long-term power purchase agreement. The] Danish energy-trading firm Danske Commodities announced it will buy all of Hywind Scotland’s power over 20 years…Over a stormy three-month period from November 2018 to January 2019, the turbines survived extreme conditions while churning out 65% of their maximum capacity as a North Atlantic hurricane sent swells topping 27 ft. That production capacity compares to 36.9% for wind turbines in the US (almost all of them on land) and 45.8% for Danish offshore wind over a comparable 12-month period ending in February 2018. Hywind even beat out the average capacity of fossil fuel plants.

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Over the course of a year, it’s capable of generating 135 GWh of clean electricity, sufficient for 20,000 Scottish homes…Norwegian oil firm Equinor (formerly Statoil) pivoted its [offshore] drilling expertise into offshore wind. It spent eight years testing a floating turbine prototype off Norway, and is now one of the world’s largest offshore wind companies, as well as the primary backer of Hywind…Equinor is now projecting massive expansion for floating wind—13 GW globally by 2030—as costs decline steeply. Wind power favors going further offshore, which yields faster and more consistent winds. That translates to exponentially more power…Europe has 50 floating wind projects (pdf) in different stages of development…” click here for more

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