Floating wind flagship Hywind Scotland has notched up the highest capacity factor for any UK offshore project to date, according to latest data processed by Norwegian developer Equinor.

The 30MW array, brought online in 2017 in the North Sea, produced power at 57.1% in the twelve months to March, marking the third year running the wind farm has outperformed all others in the region, which generally average around 40% capacity factor.

“It’s great to see the results Hywind Scotland and the floating technology keeps delivering,” said Sebastian Bringsværd, head of floating wind development at Equinor.

“The potential for floating wind is huge. With access to deeper waters and therefore higher and more consistent wind speeds, not only [is it] an efficient way to generate electricity from wind, this exciting technology can also provide jobs and value creation for the countries supportive of floating.”

The project, built around five Siemens Gamesa 6MW turbines mounted on long cigar-shaped spar foundations in some 100 metres of water, achieved an average capacity factor of 54% during its first two years of operation.

Capacity factor is the ratio between energy output over a given period of time and a project’s maximum possible output: the higher the percentage, the lower the intermittency and higher the value.

The UK aims to have 1GW of floating wind installed off its shores by 2030, as part of a targeted 30GW-plus offshore build-out.

A recent report from the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult pointed to UK floating wind development being on a trajectory to win renewable energy auctions “at subsidy-free levels” before the end of the decade.

Hywind Scotland was a key step on Equinor’s ‘road map’ for floating wind, which started with the installation of a 2.3MW demonstrator unit in 2008, and is now moving on to build the 88MW Hywind Tampen project that will part-power the giant Snorre-Gullfaks offshore oil & gas complex off Norway.

Scale is central to cost reduction, with Equinor having already seen a reduction in capital expenditure per megawatt of 70% between the original Hywind Demo unit and Hywind Scotland, and expectations of a further 40% drop by the time Hywind Tampen is online in 2022.

“The global energy industry has been pleasantly surprised by the rapid decline in the cost to deploy fixed bottom offshore wind. We’ve been working on floating wind for more than ten years and we see that significant cost reductions can be achieved through scale and experience, paving the way for floating to become fully commercialised”, said Bringsværd.

Equinor calculates development of the floating wind sector could generate “at least 17000 jobs and £33bn ($45bn) GVA [gross value added income] by 2050” in the UK. “We believe Scotland has the potential to build a globally competitive offshore wind industry, including a real chance to enhance the development of floating offshore wind,” said Bringsværd.

Floating wind power projects totalling more than 26GW are on track to be turning by 2035, according to latest figures from reseachers Quest FWE, with the fleet expected to grow “exponentially” as the first wave of utility-scale developments now taking shape internationally are boosted by transitioning oil companies and ever-improving economics.

DNV, in its latest Energy Transition Outlook, forecast some 260GW of floating wind turning by 2050, but this build-out hinges on the sector reducing levellised cost of energy from current levels of over €120/MWh down to €40-60/MWh.

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Wind

Floating wind flagship sets new pace-setting offshore power levels in North Sea