The first fully functional wind turbine in the world was built in Norway.
5,300-ton, 65-meter tall Hywind turbine is based 10 km away from Karmoy Island, not far from the country’s south-western coast. The turbine is installed onto a floating platform, attached to the sea bottom with the help of three cables. In order to ballast the platform water and stones are used.
Hywind will be tested for about two years, after that StatoilHydro, its manufacturer, will start installing such turbines in other countries. Japan, South Korea, Spain, California and the entire western coast of the US are considered to be the markets, having the most potential in being interested in this new technology.
The main thing that differentiates Hywind from the existing offshore turbines is its ability to be located far from the coast, where the depth is amounting to 120 – 700 meters. This construction will be successfully used in the countries that have deep nearshore zone or have no lands to place it on.
This project has received over $ 66 million investments. The turbine’s capacity makes up to 2.3 MW. The production of energy by this turbine is about to start on the nearest weeks.
