World's Largest Offshore Windfarm

The largest offshore windfarm in the world will be built about 20 km off the Scottish coast. According to the Norwegian energy company Statoil, which will operate the the windfarm, turbines will generate about 30 megawatts of electricity through wind power by the end of 2017.

While wind turbines on land stand on massive concrete and steel foundations, building them in the open sea is quite a challenge. Existing wind turbines  in the ocean have all been anchored to the ocean floor, which can only be done in shallow water. Statoil's new turbines will be fixed to a steel tube that floats in the water. With this new technology it will be possible to make use of wind power in deeper waters.

Offshore windfarms are spread out over much of northern Europe, especially in the shallow waters of the North and Baltic Seas,  but China and Japan have also built wind turbines off their coasts. Currently, offshore wind energy makes up only about 3% of the total wind power that is produced on earth.

The first offshore windfarm was built off the Norwegian coast in 2009. The open sea offers a lot of potential for energy because winds are strongest there.