Norwegian, state-controlled StatoilHydro ASA (NYSE: STO) has decided to build the world’s first full scale floating wind turbine off the shore of Karmøy.
The company will test the prototype, called Hywind, over a two-year period beginning in 2009 at a projected cost of $80 million.
StatoilHydro has designed HyWind based on floating concrete constructions familiar from North Sea oil installations. Floating wind turbines can be employed much farther out to see, because they are not built into the seabed, but rather, are tethered to it by chains that can go as deep as 2,300 feet.
By putting the turbines farther away from the coast they can take advantage of more consistent wind, and lessen the visual and biological impact that many people object to with wind turbines place within several miles of land.
The HyWind design attaches a 2.3 megawatts (MW) wind turbine is to the top of a so-called Spar-buoy, a solution familiar from production platforms and offshore loading buoys.
"If we succeed, then we will have taken a major step in moving the wind power industry offshore", says Alexandra Bech Gjørv, head of New Energy in StatoilHydro.
The rotor blades on the floating wind turbine will have a diameter of 80 metres, and the nacelle will tower some 65 metres above the sea surface. 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.
"Taking wind turbines to sea presents new opportunities. The wind is stronger and more consistent, areas are large and the challenges we are familiar with from onshore projects are fewer," 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. The wind turbine itself is to be built by Siemens. Technip will build the floatation element and have responsibility for the installation offshore.
A 10-feet high model has already been tested successfully in a wave simulator. The goal of the pilot is to qualify the technology and reduce costs to a level that will mean that floating wind turbines can compete with other energy sources.
"If we succeed, then we will have taken a major step in moving the wind power industry offshore. Floating wind turbines can make a major contribution to providing the world with clean power, but there are major technical and commercial challenges that need to be resolved. If we are to succeed, we will need to cooperate closely with the authorities. As with other technologies for renewable energy, floating wind power will be dependent on incentive schemes to be viable," says Alexandra Bech Gjørv.
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