It is always nice to go green, there are no two ways about that for sure. After all, we are here not to exploit the planet’s resources to a point of exhaustion, leaving nothing for the next generation, but rather, to ensure that there is still a place our children can call home and inherit by the time our life here on earth is over. While there have been many green initiatives carried out in the past, here is yet another one that might help put some fight against global warming – the approval of the world’s biggest floating wind farm, which is known as Hywind.
Traditionally, offshore wind farms would see turbines mounted in relatively shallow water while remaining fixed to the sea floor, whereas floating wind turbines that remain anchored via cables tend to be more effective, although they have been deployed in small-scale trials to date. Not anymore, as the Hywind floating wind farm has received approval to be installed off the coast of Scotland.
The Hywind will comprise of five 6 MW floating turbines, where it operates in waters that exceed 100 meters in depth. It has been estimated that such floating turbines will offer 8 to 16GW of offshore wind capacity in the UK alone by the time 2050 rolls around, and it might also see the cost of production driven down to a notch under the £100/MWh mark within a decade. [Press Release]
Filed in . Read more about Eco-friendly.