The World’s First Floating Wind Farm only switched on three months ago, but it’s already performing better than expected, and that’s despite a hurricane.
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We have been following the tale of Hywind, the world’s first “floating” wind farm, with a great deal of interest, not the least of which is because of its potential to cut installation costs and open up new regions to offshore wind in deeper seas.
But how well would it function in practice?
Since it completed its first quarter of energy production (and the promise of further, larger floating wind farms being developed), people have been eagerly awaiting some real statistics on energy production.Now that it has its first quarter under its belt, people can stop waiting. According to research that was published on Business Green, the preliminary findings are quite encouraging, with the project showing an average operational capacity factor of 65% during the months of October and January. (During the winter months, a traditional wind farm typically generates between 45 and 60 percent of its total annual energy output.)
The fact that the project was able to endure a number of significant storms and waves that were 8.2 meters high is another encouraging sign. According to Irene Rummelhoff, executive vice president for New Energy Solutions at Statoil, this shows that floating wind turbines genuinely could open up new waterways to the generation of energy.
“In light of the fact that up to 80% of the world’s offshore wind resources are located in waters deeper than sixty meters, where traditional installations that are fixed to the ocean floor are not feasible, we believe that there is a significant market for floating offshore wind farms in Asia, on the west coast of North America, and in Europe. “We are making a concerted effort to identify promising new applications for the Hywind technology.”
Who knows, given that offshore wind is finally going to take off in the United States as well, we could even see floating turbines over here in the not-too-distant future. Floating turbines are a kind of wind turbine.
Conclusion
The fact that the wind farm was able to withstand exceptionally high gusts and waves that were more than 8.2 meters is another encouraging sign; hence, we can undoubtedly state that these are quite tough buildings. It is believed that floating offshore wind has a significant amount of untapped potential. This is due to the fact that up to 80 percent of the world’s offshore wind resources are located in deep seas, where typical bottom-fixed installations cannot be installed safely.
FAQ
Which nation was the first to install offshore wind turbines that were floating in the water?
Late in the year 2021, China began operating its first floating wind turbine. It was a 5.5 MW MingYang, and it was installed in the 400 MW fixed-bottom Yangxi Shapa III wind farm. A 225 kW Vestas downwind turbine will be erected in 50 meters of water depth at the Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands in 2022 after PivotBuoy was awarded financing from the European Union in the amount of €4 million in 2019.
Where exactly is the most impressive wind farm on the planet?
The Jiuquan Wind Power Base will be the largest wind farm in the world when it is completed, with an installed capacity of 20 GW projected. It will also be known as the Gansu Wind Farm, and it will consist of 7,000 wind turbines that will be built in the provinces of Jiuquan, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Xinjiang, Jiangsu, and Shandong in the Chinese region of Gansu.
What is the name of the biggest wind farm in the world?
RST is pleased to share the news that the Hornsea 2 windfarm, which boasts the title of the world’s biggest installed windfarm, is currently in full operation. The 1.3-gigawatt offshore wind farm has 165 wind turbines and is situated 89 kilometers off the coast of Yorkshire. It will assist in providing approximately 1.4 million households in the United Kingdom with affordable, clean, and secure renewable energy.
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External Links
- The world’s first floating wind farm is already exceeding expectations
- WORLD’S FIRST FLOATING WIND FARM PERFORMS BETTER THAN EXPECTED
- The ‘world’s largest floating wind farm’ produces its first power
- World’s First Floating Wind Farm Exceeds Expectations
- World’s first floating wind farm: the key to broadening wind power’s reach?