The two companies have agreed to share development risk and Masdar will cover a quarter of all previous and future costs. Statoil will retain a 75 per cent stake in Hywind Scotland following the sale.
“Masdar is excited to join the team developing the world’s first floating wind farm, and to build on our partnership with Statoil,” said Masdar chief executive Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi. “Hywind Scotland represents the next stage in the evolution of the offshore wind industry.”
The 30MW pilot park will be located around 25 kilometres off the coast of Peterhead in waters that are 95 to 120 metres deep.
The floating foundations are being constructed in Spain and will arrive in Norway later this spring. The turbines will then be assembled over the course of the summer before being sailed to Peterhead. The aim is to have the project up and running by the end of 2017.
Statoil executive vice president for new energy solutions Irene Rummelhoff said: “The objective of the Hywind Scotland pilot park is to demonstrate cost efficient and low risk solutions for future commercial scale floating wind farms.”
She continued: “We believe Masdar can also be a strong partner in future Hywind projects and we hope that our collaboration will result in future value creation opportunities for both parties.”
Statoil has a 40 per cent stake in the Sheringham Shoal offshore wind farm and is part owner of the Dogger Bank developer Forewind. UAE-based Masdar has a 20 per cent stake in the London Array offshore wind farm, and both companies are partners in the Dudgeon offshore wind farm which is due to start generating later this year.
Earlier today the Energy Technologies Institute called for greater focus to be placed on the development of floating foundations to enable access to the UK’s best wind resources and to bring down costs.