Council gives all-clear to floating windfarm in Scotland

Demo project will feature two 5MW turbines mounted on a single platform

The Highland Council has approved plans for a 10MW floating windfarm off the northern coast of Scotland.

The council was consulted on the demonstration project as part of an assessment by the Scottish government directorate Marine Scotland, which will make a recommendation on the planning application to Scottish ministers.

The Dounreay Trì project will feature two 5MW turbines mounted on a single semi-submersible floating platform. It will be located around nine kilometres from the coast at the town of Dounreay in Caithness.

The Scottish government will need to make a decision on the planning application by 31 March if the windfarm is to secure a subsidy through the renewables obligation scheme as intended.

The project is being developed by Swedish design and engineering firm Hexicon through its subsidiary Dounreay Trì – the company it created to demonstrate its floating turbine platform. It is aiming to deploy the windfarm in the summer of 2018.

Dounreay Trì project director Marcus Thor said: “We are delighted that the council has agreed with this project and hope that Marine Scotland and the Scottish government can take a timely decision on it.

“This demonstration facility which will be built and operated in Scotland opens up the possibility for a significant increase in offshore wind generation.”

In January Atlantis Resources and Ideol revealed plans to build a 1.5GW floating wind in the UK.

The Energy Technologies Institute has called for a greater focus on the development of floating foundations in order to bring down the cost of offshore wind generation.

A study by the Offshore Renewables Energy Catapult and the Carbon Trust concluded that floating windfarms will need “ring-fenced” subsidies within the contracts for difference mechanism.