Floating wind power plants are an efficient source of energy.

In 2015, Scotland built the world's largest floating wind power plant with five turbines of 6 MW each. Theoretically, it is capable of generating 30 MW, in ideal conditions. The station is located about 25 km from the coast. The government of the country hoped that this station, which was called Hywind Scotland , could produce about 135 GWh per year.

This station, along with others, has become one of the keys to the success of the Scottish energy industry. In 2016, in August, only windmills produced 106% of the electricity needed by the region. True, then the wind speed reached 185 km / h, which happens very rarely. After nearly three years, the wind farm continues to show excellent results.

Its effectiveness over the past three months is 65% of the 100% possible. By the way, the idea of ​​the design and the project implementation itself is not the merit of the Scots, but of the Norwegians, who carried out all the necessary work, from the initial project to putting the power plant into operation. And it was a great job, because US wind farms have a slightly lower efficiency ratio - about 36.7% at the time of 2017. Even at the hydroelectric power station it is lower than that of the Scottish facility, and is 45.2%.
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However, comparing the effectiveness of a wind farm while working in the winter, when strong winds blow in Scotland, is not very correct. According to the constructors of the facility, in the summer months, when the wind is not so strong, the efficiency ratio is about 40%, which, in principle, is also very good. The advantage of floating wind farms is that they can be placed in the regions of the sea or ocean, where the wind rose contributes to the maximum efficiency of the object. Actually, they are the creators of such stations.

Hywind is not in vain built by the Norwegians, who have extensive experience in building oil platforms at sea. The design of the platform of the power plant is similar to the oil one - special rod anchors are used to fix it in a certain place. Thanks to them, it became possible to place the object 25 km from the coast. In maximum performance mode, the station can provide electricity to 20,000 homes.

Also, Huwind can survive a severe storm, problems at the station does not arise in this case. She is able to work even in conditions of extreme storms, which sometimes arise in the winter months. For example, Hurricane Ophelia did not damage the station, although the winds blew at a speed of 125 km / h. Another storm that occurred in December reached a speed of movement of air masses of 160 km / h.

“In the most difficult situations, turbines are automatically blocked, but their work is resumed as soon as optimal conditions are restored. The turbine blades line up in the event of a storm at an angle, which reduces the load on the equipment to a minimum, ”the station developer comments on the situation.


According to experts, by 2030 the cost of a megawatt of electricity generated by floating wind power plants may drop to $ 50-70.

It should be noted that about 60% of all oil fields in Europe are located in Scotland. Despite the huge reserves, the country still thinks about the future and promotes "green" energy. But according to analysts from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), from 2025, the consumption of fossil fuels in the world will begin to decline, and by 2027, the construction of new solar and wind power plants will become cheaper than the maintenance of existing gas and coal.