First Minister Nicola Sturgeon MSP officially opened Scotland’s cutting-edge European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC) on Friday 07 September, saying it will help cement Scotland’s reputation for low carbon innovation.
The 93.2 Megawatt (MW) facility in Aberdeen Bay has 11 turbines, two of which have a capacity of 8.8 MW and are the most powerful to have been deployed anywhere in the world.
Supported by a €40 million grant from the European Union, the EOWDC’s total generating capacity will supply the equivalent of 70% of Aberdeen’s household electricity demand and annually prevent more than 130,000 tonnes of climate changing CO2 from entering the atmosphere. This will remove the equivalent of 736,817 cars from our roads throughout its lifetime.
The First Minister said:
“I am proud that as part of this ground-breaking project, the world’s most powerful offshore wind turbines are now up and running in Scotland. The EOWDC will enhance Scotland’s reputation for innovation in low carbon and renewable energy development and deployment.
“A single rotation of one of these 8.8 MW turbines will generate enough energy to power a home for 24 hours which truly shows the potential of this technology to strengthen Scotland’s renewable energy generating capacity in the future.”
Kenneth Gibson MSP added:
“The innovative EOWDC is an enormous boost to the already growing global, low-cost, offshore wind industry and is therefore a vital step towards a fossil fuel-free future.
“When President Trump feared the wind farm would spoil the view from his new golf resort at the Menie Estate, the UK Supreme Court rightly rejected his challenge and the new development has been welcomed from a range of organisations including WWF Scotland and Renewables Scotland, who understand the incredible asset the EOWDC is to Scotland’s renewable future.”
ENDS
