Norwegian energy company Equinor said Tuesday its Hywind Scotland floating offshore wind farm in the UK has, for the third consecutive year, reached the highest average capacity factor for any wind farm in the UK.

With an average capacity factor of 57.1% in the twelve months to March 2021, the floating offshore wind farm set a new record in the UK, Equinor said.

"During its first two years of operation, the wind farm achieved an average capacity factor of 54%. That compares to an offshore wind average in the U.K. of around 40%. The capacity factor is the ratio of actual energy output over a given period of time, to the maximum possible output.  A higher capacity factor means lower intermittency and higher value," Equinor added.

"With this top of the charts performance, the Equinor-operated wind farm has truly proven the potential for floating offshore wind, paving the way for the UK’s announcement of 1GW of floating offshore wind to be developed in the UK by 2030," Equinor added.

Equinor's Hywind Scotland is the world's first floating offshore wind in operation. The 30 MW Hywind Scotland pilot park, consisting of five 6 MW turbines, has been producing since 2017, demonstrating the feasibility of floating wind farms that could be ten times larger.

Equinor will soon operate the world's largest floating wind farm, the Hywind Tampen, in Norway.

"With Hywind Tampen onstream in 2022 Equinor will operate a third of floating offshore wind production worldwide," Equinor said.

In 2009, Equinor installed the first-ever floating offshore wind turbine, and Hywind Scotland followed in 2017 as the world’s first commercial floating offshore wind farm.

The Hywind Tampen, currently in construction, will also be the project ever to use wind energy to decarbonize offshore oil and gas production.

Source - www.oedigital.com