Atkins and Pilot Offshore has secured approval from the Scottish government for the development of the proposed 48MW Kincardine floating offshore wind farm demonstrator off the coast of Aberdeenshire.
Planned to be built around 15km south-east of Aberdeen, the wind farm will feature eight three-bladed horizontal axis wind turbine generators, each with 6MW capacity. It has a permitted generating capacity of up to 50MW.
Upon commissioning, the Kincardine Offshore Windfarm is expected to generate 218GWhr of electricity required to power almost 56,000 homes and prevent CO2 emissions of more than 94,500t annually.
Scotland Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy, Paul Wheelhouse said the project will create jobs and investment across Scotland through the use of the supply chain.
Wheelhouse added: “It will also cement our place as one of the world’s leading nations in the innovation and deployment of floating offshore wind.
“If the technology can be demonstrated at scale, it has huge potential to help Scotland meet its energy needs and to develop a supply chain that can service opportunities elsewhere in Europe and in markets such as South East Asia and North America.”
The project is expected to create around 110 jobs during assembly, installation and through ongoing operations and maintenance activities.
Wheelhouse added: “Our commitment to supporting low carbon energy is outlined in our new draft Energy Strategy which sets out next steps and how we will continue to transition to a low carbon economy, with the offshore wind sector to take an increasingly influential role.”
The pilot-scale demonstrator offshore wind farm will feature a semi-spar floating foundation technology deigned to demonstrate the technological and commercial feasibility of floating offshore wind.