Scotland to host world’s largest floating wind farm

LONDON: The Scottish government gave the go-ahead on Monday to Britain’s floating offshore wind farm project, which could power 19,000 households, saying it would be the “world’s largest.” The Norwegian energy company Statoil wants to locate five turbines — with a capacity of six megawatts each — 25 km off Peterhead in northeast Scotland. The turbines will be placed on floating structures, allowing them to be located further off the coast in deeper water. Scotland’s Deputy First Minister John Swinney called the plan “hugely exciting.” Irene Rummelhoff of Statoil added in a statement that northeast Scotland offered “optimal wind conditions” as well as a strong oil and gas supply chain as it is near the oil industry city of Aberdeen. “Floating wind represents a new, significant and increasingly competitive renewable energy source,” Rummelhoff added. “Statoil’s objective with developing this pilot park is to demonstrate a commercial, utility-scale floating wind solution, to further increase the global market potential.” -arabnews