The Rise (...and fall...and rise) of the Windmills

StatoilHydro has constructed the world's first full-scale floating wind turbine, positioned a couple of hours by catamaran from the oil town of Stavanger, Norway, in the hope that one day, vast wind farms could be constructed far offshore in water depths of up to 700 metres.

StatoilHydro has constructed the world's first full-scale floating wind turbine, positioned a couple of hours by catamaran from the oil town of Stavanger, Norway, in the hope that one day, vast wind farms could be constructed far offshore in water depths of up to 700 metres.

While other floating concepts exist, the revolutionary turbine known as Hywind – which measures 65 metres high and weighs 5,300 tons – is the first of its kind to be inaugurated, and will now undergo a two-year test at its current location.

Featuring a steel floater filled with ballast of water and rocks, the floating structure extends 100 metres beneath the surface of the water, and is then fastened to the seabed by three anchor wires. StatoilHydro and Siemens have jointly developed a special control system for the Hywind turbine, to address the special operating conditions of a floating structure. In particular, the advanced control system takes advantage of the turbine’s ability to dampen out part of the wave-induced motions of the floating system.

Of course, as with most new technologies, the major barrier at the moment is that of the prohibitively high costs. Thus far, $66 million has been invested in the development of the 2.3 mega watt floating turbine, making it a far more expensive option than its fixed offshore counterpart.

For the meantime, it looks likely that these deep offshore mobile wind turbines will remain the province of the energy giants. Although perhaps there is no better time for governments to plunge in at the deep end and put their money behind making offshore developments – floating or otherwise – more economically viable. Certainly the potential is huge. At present, the world capacity for wind turbines currently in operation stands at around the 100,000 megawatts mark, of which a mere one percent are offshore.

And, assuming the technology proves itself, the advantages of the new floating variety, over even the established offshore turbines, seem clear: being so far offshore, the floating turbines enjoy even stronger winds and do not infringe upon sites of high value.

Perhaps more importantly, the new floating turbines cannot easily be easily seen from the coast: a quality that will please the dreaded brigade of 'NIMBYs' (Not In My Back Yards) – the close-minded luddites who invariably manage to put the dampener on proposed wind power developments, attacking these magnificent turbines – for creating an 'eyesore' or disturbing a few bird nests – in a manner more deluded than poor Don Quixote's attempts to battle the windmills of La Mancha.
Indeed, originating from the Cevantes' novel comes a curious idiom – 'Tilting at Windmills' – the meaning being 'trying to attack imaginary enemies or fight unwinnable or futile battles'. With that in mind, perhaps this latest evolutionary turn in the development of wind turbines will help change the image of turbines, in the minds of those steadfast opponents, from destructive monstrosities to benevolent giants!

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