Scotland bids to host world's first floating windfarm  

The Guardian has a report on floating offshore wind power developments in Scotland - Scotland bids to host world's first floating windfarm.

The Scottish government yesterday revealed it is in talks with Norwegian energy giant Statoil about hosting the world's first floating windfarm at two potential sites off the Scottish coast.

Statoil is currently testing a prototype version of its Hywind floating turbine 10km offshore at Karmøy in Norway and, after a successful wave of tests, is now assessing potential sites for a full-scale floating windfarm.

The company is planning to deploy between three and five floating wind turbines to demonstrate the commercial viability of the technology and senior executives at the firm met yesterday with Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond to discuss the viability of two prospective sites – one off the coast of Lewis and one off Aberdeenshire.

The talks are at a fairly advanced stage with Scottish Development International and Marine Scotland having already worked with Statoil to undertake feasibility studies at the proposed sites.

Speaking following the meeting in Norway, Salmond said that the talks had been "very positive", adding that the project had the potential to revolutionise the offshore energy industry.

"The Hywind II windfarm project would see a Scotland-Norway collaboration push the boundaries of deepwater offshore wind beyond the 100m mark and open up vast areas of the world's oceans to the development of wind energy for the first time," he said.