World's first floating wind farm put to the test

Put to the test with high winds and strong seas, Norway's Statoil said a floating wind farm in Scottish waters shows promise for deepwater installations.


During its first three months in service, the company's Hywind Scotland floating wind farm, the first of its kind, was put to the test and performed better than expected. Hurricane Ophelia in October pummeled the wind farm with 80 mile-per-hour winds and 100 mph winds were recorded two months later during Storm Caroline, which added to the test for the wind farm with 26 foot waves.

Statoil said Hywind closes down during the worst of the weather, but can automatically come back on stream when conditions improve. Special motion control systems, meanwhile, turn the turbine blades to counter potential wind stress.

The company said the design showed it could handle harsh weather conditions, but its actual performance was impressive. Operating at about 65 percent of total design capacity, Statoil said Hywind performed better than its anchored counterparts.
 (UPI)
 15/2/18