Scottish Highland Council Approves “Novel Floating Wind Farm” Demonstration

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The Highland Council in Scotland approved a “novel floating wind farm” demonstration project this week, to be built off the Northern Scottish coast near Thurso.

Floating offshore wind farms have recently been garnering more attention, as wind turbine technology has evolved and the development of floating offshore wind technology has continued to become more stable. Floating offshore wind farms have the potential to be groundbreaking (waterbreaking?) for the offshore wind industry, as it mitigates the current limitations that water depths place on offshore wind farms. Current ‘traditional’ offshore wind farms must be built in waters up to a certain depth, beyond which it is just too difficult, too costly, and too dangerous to build. Floating offshore wind farms open up the possibility of installing offshore wind turbines much further out to sea, where the wind is more consistent and strong.

Scotland’s Highland Council approved the Dounreay Trì floating offshore wind farm project this week, opening up the way for Marine Scotland to now complete its assessment and make a recommendation on the project to Scottish Ministers — by the 31st of March.

While the demonstration project is necessarily small — two turbines totaling 10 megawatts — the project would still produce enough electricity to supply approximately 8,000 homes with clean electricity. Further, the demonstration project would go a long way toward proving the viability of floating offshore wind farms, specifically in the deeper waters off the North and West Coast of Scotland.

“We are delighted that the Council has agreed with this project and hope that Marine Scotland and the Scottish Government can take a timely decision on it,” said Marcus Thor, Project Director for Dounreay Trì Limited, commenting on the Council’s decision. “This demonstration facility which will be built and operated in Scotland opens up the possibility for a significant increase in offshore wind generation and  associated supply chain benefits in Scotland.”

The news was immediately welcomed by Scottish wind energy trade groups.

“This proposal still has a few planning process steps to go through,” said Lang Banks, WWF Scotland director. “However, successfully developing floating turbines could enable Scotland and other nations to secure even more clean power from offshore wind in the future. Whatever the outcome of these proposals, we will certainly need lots more conventional offshore wind in the future.”

“Scotland is home to approximately 25% of Europe’s offshore wind resource and we are now starting to build out projects which will harness this potential,” said Lindsay Roberts, Senior Policy Manager at Scottish Renewables. “We’re also at the forefront of innovation in this exciting sector and projects like this one are part of a new chapter for our renewable energy industry.”