Designing the largest floating offshore windfarm in the world

15 km off the coast of Aberdeen, and in waters ranging from 60 to 80 m deep, five WindFloat® units hosting five 9.5 MW turbines rise to form the largest floating offshore wind farm in the world. 

This groundbreaking project features the most powerful wind turbine ever installed on a floating platform and brings the industry one step closer to industrial-scale deployment. The Kincardine Offshore Windfarm is capable of powering nearly 35,000 homes in Scotland.

First Power

2021

Project capacity

50 MW

Wind turbine

Vestas V164

Wind turbine capacity

9.5 MW

Operational design life

25 years

Distance to shore

15 km

Water depth

60-80 m

Project sponsors

Cobra Concesiones

Financing

Natixis

Certification

American Bureau of Shipping, DNV

Turbine integration at Rotterdam

Turbine integration at Rotterdam

Video by our partners, Bourbon Subsea Services and Vryhof

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A crucial step towards industrialization and net-zero goals

Each of the five V164 9.5 MW turbines deployed at the wind farm incorporates three 80 m blades being fabricated at the MHI Vestas Offshore Wind’s factory on the Isle of Wight, then painted and finished at its Fawley facility, a decommissioned and repurposed former oil-fired power plant. The turbines are installed on five WindFloat® units fabricated in Spain. The platform-turbine integration took place at Rotterdam port.

Fabrication of the five WindFloat® units started in April 2019. At 50 MW installed capacity in the summer of 2021, and with a pandemic in between, the project showcases the logistical advantages of Principle Power's technology over other designs. The WindFloat®'s modular design enables an industrialized supply chain to be mobilized.

Kincardine Offshore Wind Farm was constructed at what was a symbolic time for the decarbonization of the energy sector in the UK. It's the largest floating offshore wind farm in the world with the most powerful turbines installed on a floating offshore wind platform. Projects like Kincardine inform the next generation of industrial-scale, cost-competitive floating wind projects in the UK and globally.

- Cobra Concesiones

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