Norwegian operator Statoil has released footage of the mating of its Hywind floating wind turbine towers, complete with nacelle and blades, with the spar-hull structures that will support them.
The operation, carried out in a fjord, Norway, puts Statoil and partner Masdar a step-closer to installing the first floating wind farm off the coast of Scotland. The Hywind pilot park will comprise of five, 6MW turbines. Each turbine stands 175m above the sea, with the hull penetrating 78m beneath the sea level, making them 253m tall in total.
Once mated, using the Saipem 7000 heavy lift vessel, the complete turbines will be towed from Norway, across the North Sea, to the Buchan Deep, a site offshore Peterhead, Scotland, where they will be moored before being commissioned and brought into production later this year.
The pilot park will cover around 4sq km, 25 km offshore Peterhead at water depths of 95-120m. The average wind speed in this area of the North Sea is around 10m/sec.