The cylindrical support section for the world’s first full-scale floating wind turbine arrived in the Åmøy Fjord near Stavanger recently. The project is a pilot for the Hywind concept, which has been developed by StatoilHydro.

In mid-June, the wind turbine will be towed out to the field. The test period will start in the autumn of 2009 and will last for two years.

StatoilHydro, which has developed HyWind based on floating concrete constructions familiar from North Sea oil installations, has drawn on its offshore expertise from the oil and gas industry to develop wind power offshore.

StatoilHydro is allocating in excess of 400 million NOK to building and developing the pilot, as well as research and development of the wind turbine concept. The goal of the pilot is to reduce costs so that floating wind power can compete in the power market.

The floating structure consists of a steel jacket filled with ballast. It has been shared that the rotor blades on the floating wind turbine will have a diameter of 80 metres, and the nacelle will tower some 65 metres above the sea surface. The floatation element will have a draft of some 100 metres below the sea surface, and will be moored to the seabed using three anchor points. The wind turbine can be located in waters with depths ranging from 120 to 700 metres.