Behind A World First Clean Energy Solution
Behind a world first clean energy solution
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Location:Offshore, North Scotland
Sectors:Renewable energy
Location:Offshore, North Scotland
Sectors:Renewable energy
Bringing the world’s first floating wind farm live
Generators to support the construction phase and battery storage to optimise output
With no restrictions on location, the Hywind project will enable this new playing field to boost wind power globally
The Challenge
The Hywind wind farm is the world’s first floating wind farm. This leap in technology lifts restrictions on placement.
The five 6 MW wind turbines are located around 25km from land. During the construction phase, the farm needed portable power, despite its tricky location.
Not only that, but the owners of the wind farm wanted to include battery storage once the farm was producing power.
This had never been done before, but that’s why we won the contract. We provide power no matter the circumstance
The Solution
We had to overcome some obstacles to supply the critical power for the floating turbines. Our offshore experience helped during the construction phase to enable our portable generators to be lifted onto the turbine platform, possibly avoiding needless delays.
Once the wind farm was up and running, the question of battery storage was answered by us too.
With our acquisition of Younicos, we were perfectly placed to help the owners of Hywind to explore the benefits of battery storage.
Our experts specialise on battery storage integration, and intelligent software was used to harness and optimise power being generated by the turbines, and then stored in the battery system to either send back to the grid, or used when intermittency struck.
The Impact
The success of this floating wind farm is far reaching. Floating wind turbines are projected to provide 10 GW by 2030, and Hywind alone is due to provide 22,000 homes with the electricity they need for everyday life.
Including battery storage means a more efficient process too. No wasted power, and surplus energy can then be sent back to the grid, and the power stored within the batteries equates to 1 MW.
More importantly, companies can now incorporate batteries into their business plans and a far greener future.