The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), in Orkney, Scotland, has concluded concept design for a 100MW floating offshore wind test and demonstration site.
Ocean energy test facility EMEC is aiming to secure a lease for a site 20 km west of Orkney, further out to sea from its existing wave energy test facility at Billia Croo.
EMEC’s proposed test site will comprise six berths for floating offshore wind turbines of up to 20MW rated capacity.
With water depths of 80-95 metres, large waves and a mean windspeed of 10.7 m/s, the site will offer floating wind developers representative metocean conditions to those in ScotWind, Celtic Seas and future leasing rounds.
Four of the six berths will be grid-connected, while the final two berths will be reserved for alternative applications such as hydrogen generation.
Following extensive research and engagement with industry, the site setup and configuration has been fine-tuned to dovetail the sector’s existing and future requirements, with more than 25GW of floating wind due to be deployed in UK waters over the next 20 years.
The site has been designed specifically for floating wind developers to de-risk their technologies, putting turbines, floating structures, moorings and other components to the test in an energetic offshore environment.
This will enable performance to be refined on a wide range of floating wind technologies prior to commercial scale-up and build-out.
As well as being a catalyst for floating wind R&D and innovation, the test site will make full use of Scapa Flow and plans for it to become an offshore wind hub, supporting future job creation and supply chain development.
Xodus Group (Xodus) has provided expert support through the initial design phases and both parties are working to establish a longer-term collaboration with the X-Academy initiative, to develop skills needed to grow the sector.
Neil Kermode, Managing Director at EMEC, said: “Floating wind is still in relative infancy with limited experience globally of deploying and operating technologies in high energy conditions.
“EMEC’s new demonstration site will provide developers with a highly comparable testing ground to proposed project locations prior to large-scale roll out. This testing will enable companies to de-risk projects helping to satisfy technical due diligence requirements and make financing easier and cheaper.
“We know the demand is there, we’ve had a stream of requests over the last few years from wind developers seeking a test site to help them commercialise their technologies, so this feels like the natural next step in the evolution of EMEC.
“Having hosted more wave and tidal energy technologies at EMEC than anywhere else in the world, we’re well versed in running offshore testing grounds for renewable energy.”