Siemens Gamesa was announced as a winner of the 2017 Popular Science ‘Best of What’s New’ Award in the Engineering category for its contribution to the Hywind Scotland project, operated by Statoil, located 25 kilometers off the coast of Peterhead in Aberdeenshire.
The Hywind project features five SWT-6.0-154 wind turbines built on floating foundations.
The project features five SWT-6.0-154 wind turbines built on floating foundations. Each year beginning in 1988, Popular Science editors review thousands of submissions for innovative and revolutionary technology and award 100 winners across 11 categories.
“The ‘Best of What’s New’ awards honor the innovations that shape the future,” says Joe Brown, Editor in Chief, Popular Science. “From life-saving technology to incredible space engineering to gadgets that are just breathtakingly cool, this is the best of what’s new.”
The first floating wind turbine was successfully installed in 2009 by Statoil at Hywind Demo. Then, in 2015, Siemens Gamesa was awarded the turbine supply for Statoil’s Hywind Scotland project. During the project’s installation, for the first time in Siemens Gamesa’s history, a fully installed turbine, including the tower, was lifted from the pre-assembly area out onto the floating foundation in 95-120 meter deep and sheltered fjord in West Norway. With the floating foundation more than 70 meters underwater, the entire structure was towed across the North Sea from Norway to Scotland.
The first SWT-6.0-154 wind turbine for the Hywind Scotland project was commissioned in September, with the remaining commissioned early October 2017. Together, the five turbines can produce enough energy to power 20,000 average homes.
“As leaders in offshore wind power, we are strongly committed to bringing offshore wind to the U.S. With states like California, who have aggressive energy targets and deep waters along the coast, floating foundations are going to play a significant role in offshore wind within the U.S.,” says Joergen Scheel, Vice President, Offshore North America, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy.
Filed Under: News, Turbines
