Hywind Scotland Pilot Park

Hywind Scotland Pilot Park Wind Farm Profile

The Hywind Scotland Pilot Park is located approximately 25-30 km off the coast of Peterhead, Scotland, in the North Sea, at the Buchan Deep.
The nearest port is the Port of Peterhead, and the cable landfall point is also on the coast of Peterhead.

Hywind Scotland Pilot Park is the world's first floating offshore wind farm, covering an area of about 4 square kilometers.
The project was developed by Hywind (Scotland) Ltd, a subsidiary of Equinor, with Equinor holding a 75% stake and Masdar holding the remaining 25%.

The wind farm has an installed capacity of 30 MW, generated by five Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SWT-6.0-154 turbines, each with a 6 MW nameplate capacity.
Each turbine stands at a maximum height of 258 meters from base to turbine, with a hub height between 82 and 101 meters and a rotor diameter of 154 meters.

The turbines are installed on floating spar foundations, known as Spar Buoys, which are suitable for harsh conditions and use a simple three-line mooring system.
The turbines are spaced between 720 and 1,600 meters apart and are connected by inter-array cables. The electricity is transmitted to the local grid network through an export cable corridor with a transmission voltage of 33kV.

The wind farm operates in water depths between 95 and 120 meters and experiences an average wind speed of 10 m/s.
It generates enough electricity to power approximately 20,000 to 35,000 UK households, depending on the source, and offsets around 63,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually.
The project includes a 1 MW battery system named Batwind, developed by Younicos, which is the first battery storage system connected to a floating wind farm. This system helps in optimizing power transmission to the grid.

The final investment decision (FID) for the project was made by Equinor in November 2015, and the Scottish Government granted approval for the construction in the same month.
Onshore construction works began in 2016, followed by offshore installation in 2017. The turbines were assembled in a deepwater onshore area off the west coast of Norway and then transported to the site for installation.
The wind farm started producing electricity in September 2017 and officially opened in October 2017.

Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy supplied the offshore wind turbines. Other contractors included Navacel Internacional for the tubular steel towers, Isleburn for suction anchors, and Nexans for cables. Aibel provided front-end engineering design and engineering and management assistance for the substructures.
Lloyd’s Register Energy was involved in risk and emergency preparedness analysis, and Younicos delivered the battery system. Aggreko provided power during the installation.

The power generated from the project is sold to Danske Commodities under a power purchase agreement for a period of 20 years, with a contracted capacity of 30 MW.

A decommissioning program for the Hywind Scotland Wind Farm has been drafted to comply with the requirements of the Energy Act 2004. The program outlines the structures to be decommissioned, the methods, and the timeline for decommissioning. The draft is open for comments and consultation.

The project has undergone extensive environmental monitoring, including studies on seabirds, marine mammals, and the impact on benthic habitats. Equinor has made operational data available for supply chain businesses and academia through the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult’s Platform for Operational Data (POD) service.

Equinor aims to create lasting value for local communities through direct and indirect employment, local procurement, infrastructure development, and social investments. The project uses local constructors and supply chain services whenever possible.