World"s first Floating Wind farm

The revolutionary technology allow floating wind farm power harvested in waters too deep for the current conventional bottom-standing turbines. The world"s first full-scale floating wind farm has started to take shape off the north-east coast of Scotland. The Hywind project run in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi firm Masdar.

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The Peterhead wind farm, known as Hywind, is a trial which will bring power to 20,000 homes. One giant turbine has already moved into place. Other four more wait in readiness in a Norwegian fjord. By the end of the month all towed to 15 miles (25km) off Peterhead, Aberdeenshire. The turbines float upright like giant fishing floats.

While the turbines are currently very expensive to make. Statoil believes that in the future it will be able to dramatically reduce costs. In the same way that manufacturers already have for conventional offshore turbines. The £190m cost subsidized by bill-payers under the UK government"s Renewable Obligation Certificates.



The tower, including the blades, stretches to 175m (575ft), dwarfing Big Ben

Each tower weighs 11,500 tons

The box behind the blades the nacelle could hold two double-decker buses

Each blade is 75m - almost the wing span of an Airbus

The turbines can operate in water up to a kilometer deep

The blades on the towers have been a particular focus for innovation.

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Statoil says the blades harness breakthrough software which holds the tower upright by twisting the blades to dampen motions from wind, waves and currents. The operation to begin shifting the first of the 11,500 tons giants happened dramatically in the half-light of a Norwegian summer night.

Crews secured thick cables to tug boats and used remote-controlled submarines to check for obstacles.

Finally, the giant was on the move, floating on a sealed vase-like tube 78m deep, its bottom filled with iron ore to weight the base and keep it upright in the water. The price of energy from bottom-standing offshore wind farms has plummeted 32% since 2012 far faster that anyone predicted.

"This is a tech development project to ensure it"s working in open sea conditions. It"s a game-changer for floating wind power and we are sure it will help bring costs down," said Leif Delp, project director for Hywind.

Moreover, price is now four years ahead of the government"s expected target, and another big price drop is expected, taking offshore wind to a much lower price than new nuclear power. Manufacturer Statoil says output from the turbines is expected to equal or surpass generation from current ones. It hopes to cash in on a boom in the technology, especially in Japan and the west coast of the US, where waters are deep.

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Furthermore, Floating turbines may create a new frontier for energy. But scientists on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warn far more investment in additional new technologies is urgently needed for governments to keep promises on reducing emissions.