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Hywind Scotland

Two men on a sea vessel
Workers aboard the crew transfer vessel MCS Swath 1, on their way out to work at Hywind Scotland
Photo: Ole Jørgen Bratland
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The world’s first floating wind farm, the 30 MW Hywind Scotland pilot park, has been in operation since 2017, demonstrating the feasibility of floating wind farms that could be ten times larger.

Equinor and partner Masdar invested NOK 2 billion to realise Hywind Scotland, achieving a 60-70% cost reduction compared with the Hywind Demo project in Norway. Hywind Scotland started producing electricity in October 2017.

Each year since Hywind Scotland started production the floating wind farm has achieved the highest average capacity factor of all UK offshore windfarms, proving the potential of floating offshore wind farms.

Much of the knowledge we have acquired over the course of almost fifty years of oil production can be used in our wind power projects.

Stine Myhre SelåsStructural engineer in Equinor
Equinor employee Stine Myhre Selås

Facts about Hywind Scotland

  • The world’s first floating offshore wind farm, with 5 turbines
  • Pilot park covering around 4 square kilometres
  • Installed capacity: 30 MW
  • Diameter 154 m
  • Maximum height, base to turbine: 253 m
  • Water depth: 95-120 m
  • Spar-type substructure
  • Standard offshore wind turbine
  • Powering ~35,000 UK homes
  • Export cable length: Ca. 30 km
  • Average wave height: 1.8 m

Suitable for harsh conditions, simple three-line mooring system, patented motion control reduces fatigue, increases production.

Illustration of wind turbines positioned in the water with suction anchors and linked with electrical lines
This is how the wind turbines are positioned in the water offshore Peterhead. They are anchored up with three suction anchors each, and linked together to send the electricity produced onshore.
Peterhead harbour

Our commitment to local communities

We aim to create lasting value for local communities through our business activities. Our contribution may include direct and indirect local employment, local procurement of goods and services, local infrastructure development and capacity-building as well as social investments. For Hywind, we aim to use local constructors and supply chain whenever possible.

Decommissioning programme

The decommissioning programme for Hywind Scotland Wind Farm has been drafted in order to comply with the requirements of the Section 105 of the Energy Act 2004 (“the Act”, as amended by the Energy Act 2008 and the Scotland Act 2016). The Decommissioning programme provides details on the structures that will be decommissioned, an overview of how decommissioning may be undertaken and the timeline for decommissioning.

In line with BEIS’s guidance Decommissioning of Offshore Renewable Energy Installations under The Energy Act 2004: Guidance notes for industry (England and Wales), the decommissioning programme is available for comments from interested parties. This notice is to ensure that interested members of the public are notified of the availability of the draft decommissioning programme, which is open for comments and consultation.

The draft decommissioning programme can be found below. If you wish to provide comments on the draft decommissioning programme please send them to gm_hysdecompro@equinor.com. Please quote “Hywind Scotland decommissioning programme” on any correspondence. Comments received in response to the consultation will be handled in compliance with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation. The individual comments will be published on the project’s webpage, however this will not include any personal information.

Consultation on the decommissioning programme will be open until 2 June 2022.

Hywind Scotland pilot park decommissioning programme submission May 2022 (PDF)

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