MHI Vestas has been selected to supply five of its V164-9.5 MW turbines for the Kincardine Floating Offshore Wind Park to be located off the coast of Scotland.

MHI Vestas

Image: MHI Vestas to supply its 9.5MW turbines for floating wind farm in Scotland. Photo: Courtesy of MHI Vestas Offshore Wind.

MHI Vestas received the order from Spanish developer and construction company Cobra Group, part of the ACS Group. Cobra Group first selected MHI Vestas last year for this order and now has confirmed the order.

The contract is expected to keep Scotland at the forefront of offshore wind innovation, as it is the first floating project to feature wind turbines of more than 9MW of capacity.

As floating offshore wind accelerates, MHI Vestas says that it can learn substantially from the Kincardine project, which can enable it to better understand installation and commissioning techniques, main component interactions, and power production in floating wind.

MHI Vestas CEO Philippe Kavafyan said: “We are exceptionally proud that the world’s largest floating offshore wind park will feature the V164-9.5 MW turbine. Bringing our technology and experience to Kincardine in Scotland advances our leadership in floating offshore wind and confirms our long-term commitment to commercial scale, floating offshore wind projects in the future.”

The Kincardine floating wind farm will be located 15km southeast of Aberdeen Bay and will be powered by five of MHI Vestas’ turbines. The wind farm additionally has a single V80-2.0 MW turbine already installed. The six-turbine project will feature Windfloat semi-submersible foundations and be located in water depths between 60m and 80m.

MHI Vestas stated that the turbines will be installed in next year and the order also includes a 10-year service and maintenance agreement.

The announcement comes at a time when the turbine-maker readies for installing turbines at another floating offshore wind project in Portugal, Windfloat Atlantic with developer WindPlus, featuring three V164-8.4 MW turbines.

In February, MHI Vestas was selected as the preferred wind turbine supplier by Iberdrola for its 476MW Baltic Eagle project in German waters of the Baltic Sea, off the island of Rügen.

The wind project is scheduled for delivery and installation in 2022 and 2023 respectively and it is claimed to be the first offshore wind farm to feature the company’s V174-9.5 MW turbine.