Beatrice Wind Farm
Encyclopedia
The Beatrice Wind Farm is a wind farm close to the Beatrice oil field in the Moray Firth
, part of the North Sea
off the east coast of Scotland
.
(UK) to build and operate an evaluation wind farm
in the deep water close to the Beatrice Oil field in the North Sea. Built in 2007, with 2 turbines and a total capacity of 10 MW, it was designed to examine the feasibility of creating a commercial wind farm in deep water and a reasonable distance from the shore. The foundation design was developed by the Norwegian company OWEC Tower, and fabricated in Scotland by Burntisland Fabrications. The site is 22km from the Scottish coast and in 45m of water. The project was proposed to last 5 years. All the electricity generated is fed to a nearby oil rig.
and SeaEnergy Renewables, was awarded exclusivity by The Crown Estate to develop the Beatrice offshore wind farm in the Outer Moray Firth just to the north of the existing 2 demonstrator turbines. The development will cover an approximate area of 131.5km2, consist of 184 turbines and a total capacity of 920 MW. The project is currently in the planning stage with construction starting in 2014 and fully operational by 2017.
Moray Firth
The Moray Firth is a roughly triangular inlet of the North Sea, north and east of Inverness, which is in the Highland council area of north of Scotland...
, part of the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
off the east coast of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
Evaluation project
Beatrice Wind Farm Demonstrator Project was a joint venture between Scottish and Southern Energy and Talisman EnergyTalisman Energy
Talisman Energy Inc. is one of Canada's largest petroleum SB companies. Based in Calgary, Alberta, Talisman Energy has operations around the globe including: Canada and the United States of America in North America; Colombia and Peru in South America; Algeria in North Africa; United Kingdom,...
(UK) to build and operate an evaluation wind farm
Wind farm
A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other...
in the deep water close to the Beatrice Oil field in the North Sea. Built in 2007, with 2 turbines and a total capacity of 10 MW, it was designed to examine the feasibility of creating a commercial wind farm in deep water and a reasonable distance from the shore. The foundation design was developed by the Norwegian company OWEC Tower, and fabricated in Scotland by Burntisland Fabrications. The site is 22km from the Scottish coast and in 45m of water. The project was proposed to last 5 years. All the electricity generated is fed to a nearby oil rig.
Scottish territorial waters award
In February 2009, the partnership of SSE RenewablesSSE Renewables
SSE Renewables is a renewable energy subsidiary of Airtricity. Airtricity was founded in 1997 in Ireland and now is a renewable energy company owned by Scottish and Southern Energy...
and SeaEnergy Renewables, was awarded exclusivity by The Crown Estate to develop the Beatrice offshore wind farm in the Outer Moray Firth just to the north of the existing 2 demonstrator turbines. The development will cover an approximate area of 131.5km2, consist of 184 turbines and a total capacity of 920 MW. The project is currently in the planning stage with construction starting in 2014 and fully operational by 2017.
See also
- Wind power in ScotlandWind power in ScotlandWind power in Scotland is the country's fastest growing renewable energy technology, with 2574 MW of installed capacity as of April 2011. The Robin Rigg Wind Farm is a 180 MW development completed in April 2010, which is Scotland's first offshore wind farm, sited on a sandbank in the Solway...
- Wind power in the United KingdomWind power in the United KingdomBy mid-2011, the installed capacity of wind power in the United Kingdom was over 5.7 gigawatts and the UK is ranked as the world’s eighth largest producer of wind power. Wind power is expected to continue growing in the UK for the foreseeable future, RenewableUK estimates that more than...
- List of offshore wind farms in the United Kingdom
- Renewable energy in ScotlandRenewable energy in ScotlandThe production of renewable energy in Scotland is an issue that has come to the fore in technical, economic, and political terms during the opening years of the 21st century. The natural resource base for renewables is extraordinary by European, and even global standards...