Floating Wind Farms in the North Sea
In 2009, the world’s first floating wind turbine, Hywind Demo, was installed off the coast of Norway; then, in 2017, the energy company Equinor launched Hywind Scotland, the first operational floating wind farm. Since the beginning, Norwegian firms have been at the forefront of this floating technology. While there have been some supply chain hiccups, several large-scale projects have been completed sooner than anticipated and costs have decreased thanks to the economies of scale. It is projected that Norway may secure 20 percent of the floating wind market by 2050.
Such projects, many miles out to sea, out of sight by coastal residents, and able to capture the energy from even more consistent and powerful winds, might be an avenue worth pursuing.
Sources: “Norway is a Global Frontrunner in Offshore Wind,” Business Norway, n.d., https://businessnorway.com/articles/norway-global-frontrunner-offshore-wind-fow; “Policy Instruments to Realize Floating Offshore Wind in Norway,” Menon Economics, October 2020, https://offshore-wind.no/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Policy-instruments-to-realise-floating-offshore-wind-in-Norway-MENON.pdf.
