Abstract
Statoil developed and deployed the world’s first full-scale floating wind turbine (2.3 MW), installed off the west coast of Norway, in 2009. The concept, called Hywind, combines known technologies in a completely new setting and opens up the possibility for capturing wind energy in deep-water environments. Statoil expect floating wind turbines to have a potential for significant cost reductions compared to fixed turbines, as well as giving higher flexibility in turbine placement. The concept builds on Statoil’s long experience and competence as a developer and operator of offshore oil and gas installations. The Hywind Demo prototype off the Norwegian west coast has now been demonstrated and verified through five years of operation.
Having successfully completed technical testing of the Hywind floating wind concept, the next step towards building large commercial parks is to scale up and optimise the substructure design. The Hywind Scotland Pilot Park is intended to demonstrate that the costs can be significantly reduced, and validate the concept for developing large scale commercial parks. The Pilot Park will include five 6 MW wind turbines which will be placed off the east coast of Scotland, approximately 30 km from Peterhead in Aberdeenshire.
The Hywind Scotland Pilot Park Environmental Statement includes the following chapters:
- Introduction
- Policy and Legislation Framework
- Site Selection and Consideration of Alternatives
- Project Description
- Environmental Overview
- Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Methodology
- Stakeholder Engagement
- Physical Environment
- Benthic and Intertidal Ecology
- Fish and Shellfish Ecology
- Ornithology
- Marine Mammal Ecology
- Aviation and Radar
- Commercial Fisheries
- Shipping and Navigation
- Marine Historic Environment
- Other Sea Users
- Socio-economics
- Seascape, Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment
- Potential Hydrocarbon and Chemical Spill
- Environmental Management and Monitoring