The 50MW Kincardine floating offshore wind farm off Scotland has begun commercial operation.
Kincardine, the world’s largest floating wind farm in operation, is located 15 km off the coast of Aberdeenshire, in water depths ranging from 60-80 metres.
The project consists of five Vestas V164-9.5MW and one V80-2MW turbine, each installed on WindFloat semi-submersible platforms designed by Principle Power.
The Kincardine project was started back in 2014 by Allan MacAskill and Lord Nicol Stephen, now both directors of Flotation Energy.
In 2016 Cobra Group became the main investor in Kincardine Offshore Windfarm Ltd (KOWL).
Cobra Wind, a subsidiary of Cobra Group, has been responsible for the delivery of the project, including engineering, construction, installation and commissioning.
The Kincardine project has led to other joint venture projects between Cobra and Flotation Energy, including a Round 4 success with the 480MW Morecambe project, plus 7GW of bids in the Scotwind leasing round and the 100MW White Cross floating project off the south west UK.
Cobra Group senior manager Jose Antonio Fernandez said: “In addition to being the largest floating wind farm in the world, the development also features another first, using the highest capacity wind turbines ever installed on floating platforms.”
Kincardine will generate over 200 gigawatt-hours of green electricity a year.
The Kincardine team has also announced the selection of Aberdeen as its operations and maintenance base.
“Our local team, managed by Cobra, will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the project. We will be using Scottish based companies with proven North Sea capabilities, drawing on their experience maintaining offshore semi-submersibles and platforms over the last 50 years.
“It could not be a better fit,” said Jaime Altolaguirre, KOWL project director at Cobra Group.