EMEC completes concept design for 100-MW floating wind test facility

The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney, Scotland, is ready with the concept design for a 100-MW site for testing floating offshore wind turbines, it said on Monday.

The test and demonstration facility is planned to be located within a lease area some 20 kilometres (12.4 miles) west of Orkney, off EMEC’s existing wave energy testing site at Billia Croo. It is proposed to accommodate six berths for floating offshore wind turbines of up to 20 MW in capacity, with four of the berths to be grid-connected, while the other two will be used for alternative applications such as hydrogen generation.

The new facility will offer water depths of between 80 metres (262.5 feet) and 95 metres and average wind speed of 10.7 m/s.

“EMEC’s new demonstration site will provide developers with a highly comparable testing ground to proposed project locations prior to large-scale roll out. This testing will enable companies to de-risk projects helping to satisfy technical due diligence requirements and make financing easier and cheaper,” said Neil Kermode, Managing Director at EMEC.

Global energy consultancy Xodus Group has assisted EMEC in the initial design phases. According to EMEC, the project will support the expansion of the UK floating wind industry, which is forecast to witness the deployment of more than 25 GW of capacity over the next 20 years.

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