The Hywind project will mark the first investment by Statoil’s newly created New Energy Solutions (NES) division, led by Irene Rummelhoff, and will entail installation of a 30-megawatt wind turbine farm in a water depth of between 95 and 120 metres off Petershead in Aberdeenshire county.
Production from the four square-kilometre wind park, which will generate sufficient power for about 20,000 households, is due to start in late 2017.
“This will further increase the global market potential for offshore wind energy, contributing to realising our ambition of profitable growth in renewable energy and other low-carbon solutions,” Rummelhoff said in a statement.
The company stated Hywind “marks an important step forward for offshore wind technology, and potentially opens attractive new markets for renewable energy production worldwide”.
The project is based on a successful pilot scheme using a similar concept to Hywind that has been verified during six years of operation off the island of Karmoy on Norway’s west coast.
The planned Hywind investment represents a 60% to 70% cost reduction on the demonstration scheme, Statoil said.
Statoil chief executive Eldar Saetre launched the NES division earlier this year with the aim of further developing profitable renewable energy and low-carbon projects to complement the company's oil and gas portfolio, predicated on its experience and technology from the offshore sector.
The company has shifted its focus to offshore wind after earlier selling off onshore wind assets in Norway and acted as operator during the development phase of the Sheringham Shoal wind farm that is now producing off the UK.
Statoil also has interests in the Dudgeon and Dogger Bank wind projects off the UK.
