SgurrEnergy advises on floating Hywind Offshore Wind Farm

SgurrEnergy, part of Wood Group’s clean energy business, acted as technical advisor for the investment in Hywind floating offshore wind farm. Located off the coast of Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, it is the world’s first multi-turbine floating offshore wind farm.

This project is an important milestone between demonstration and full commercialisation of floating wind.  Consisting of five Siemens SWT6MW-154 wind turbine generators (WTGs), the 30MW wind farm will utilise floating bases for the WTGs, which will be tethered to the seabed.  This is the first time the Siemens SWT 6MW WTG will be used in a floating wind farm, leveraging from the developer’s experience and the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) acquired with the 2.3 MW prototype off the coast of Norway.

SgurrEnergy’s consultants and engineers provided technical due diligence services, reviewing the project design, construction contracts, project schedule, financial model and operations and maintenance plan. During the consultation period an energy yield assessment for the wind farm was also completed.

Marc Costa Ros, Senior Consultant at SgurrEnergy said: “This project means a very significant step forward in the floating offshore wind industry, whereby the gap between technology demonstration and commercial bankable projects will be reduced.

“We are convinced that additional similar projects can and will be built over the next few years, de-risking floating wind and creating attractive investments.”

The project aims to prove that floating wind on a pre-commercial scale is feasible and profitable, leading the way for floating wind farms on a larger scale.

With plans for the project to be operational by the third quarter of 2017, onshore construction works have begun and offshore construction is planned for summer this year.