Abu Dhabi green energy firm Masdar has acquired a 25% stake in Hywind Scotland, the world’s first offshore floating wind farm, Reuters reported.
Under the agreement, Masdar will share the development risk with Norway’s Statoil, which holds a 75% stake, and cover 25% of previous and future costs. The 30MW Highwind Scotland project is located 15 miles off Scotland’s North East coast. It is due to begin commercial operations in late 2017, according to Gulf Business.
The pilot project aims to take advantage of Scotland’s huge offshore wind resource by operating in waters exceeding 100 meters depth, demonstrating cost efficient and low risk solutions for commercial scale parks. The project comprises five 6MW floating wind turbines anchored to the seabed. The farm covers an area of around four sq.km, with the average wind speed in this area of the North Sea is around 10 meters per second.
Investment in the Hywind project will increase Masdar’s presence in the UK to 1.06GW of gross electricity generating capacity, as Masdar owns a 20% stake in the London Array offshore wind farm project and a 35% stake in Britain’s Dudgeon project.
Wholly-owned by Abu Dhabi investment fund Mubadala , Masdar has invested in renewable energy across the Middle East. Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates is investing billions of dollars in industry, tourism, infrastructure and renewables to diversify its economy away from oil.
