Final turbine arrives at Masdar-backed windfarm off Scottish coast

Project, near completion, is a JV with Norway's Statoil

Courtesy Oyvind Gravaas / Statoil

Abu Dhabi’s Masdar and Statoil of Norway added the last component to the world’s first floating offshore wind farm, which will provide electricity to about 22,000 homes once operational.

The £210 million (Dh992m) Hywind project, off the coast of Scotland, has five wind turbines which were manufactured in Norway and then transported via the North Sea to Buchan Deep, 25km east of Peterhead. Each turbine was individually towed to its final destination with the fifth and final turbine added on Tuesday. The journey takes four days.

On arrival work was immediately started to install anchor lines and perform hook-up operations, taking two to three days per turbine. Final installation is scheduled to be completed in the coming weeks.

"Hywind...demonstrates the enormous potential for delivering offshore wind energy in waters up to 1km deep, and represents the next stage in the evolution of the offshore wind industry," said Bader Al Lamki, executive director of clean energy at Masdar.

This is the first commercial-scale project, following a six-year pilot in Norway's Karmøy, carried out by Statoil. Masdar joined the Hywind project in January, picking up a 25 per cent stake with operator Statoil holding the remainder.

This project pushes Masdar’s total UK investments above a power capacity of 1 gigawatt.

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Hywind is the second offshore windfarm project partnership between Masdar and Statoil after the Dudgeon offshore windfarm in East Anglia.