The Scottish Government has given the go-ahead for Samsung Heavy Industries to develop a stg£6.04m test centre in Scotland to pioneer its next-generation offshore wind turbine over the next five years.
This week, Scotland’s Energy Minister Fergus Ewing granted consent for Samsung to develop an offshore demonstration wind turbine with an installed capacity of up to 7 megawatts (MW) at the Fife Energy Park in Methil, Scotland.
Scottish Enterprise is to give Samsung stg£6.04m in support for the project, with the South Korean company set to start building the 7MW prototype turbine later this year. The turbine will be placed on the sea bed around 35 metres from the shore.
At the site, Samsung will be testing new designs and models for offshore wind turbines with the goal of increasing the reliability and efficiency of the power they produce. The project will run for five years in Fife.
During a visit to Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea this week, Scotland’s Finance Secretary John Swinney welcomed the consent for the new development.
“The site at Fife Energy Park offers the ideal location for a cutting-edge test centre like this,” he said.
Lena Wilson, chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, said Samsung’s plans reflect Scotland’s growing reputation as a location for companies for the next generation of offshore wind energy.
“The success of companies in Scotland in securing business from Samsung shows we’re building a strong supply chain – which is critical,” she said.
Scotland has a target of installing offshore wind installations with the capacity to generate 10,000 MW of power by 2020. It has set a new decarbonisation target to cut carbon emissions from electricity generation by more than four-fifths by 2030.
