'World's largest' floating wind farm planned off Dounreay

A Danish company has proposed building what it says would be the world's largest floating wind farm off the Caithness coast.

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partner said once completed its project would generate power for about 70,000 homes.

The Pentland Floating Offshore Wind Farm would see up to 10 turbines on platforms anchored to the seabed.

It will differ from other offshore projects that have the turbines installed on foundations on the seabed.

The 100 megawatts (MW) floating wind farm has been proposed for the Pentland Firth, about four miles (6km) off the former Dounreay nuclear power complex near Thurso on the north Caithness coast.

There are other floating wind farms proposed for around the UK's coast. The Llŷr project involves two offshore sites with a capacity of 100MW each south of Pembroke, while the 100MW Whitecross scheme is to be located off the coast of Devon and Cornwall.

Highland Wind Limited, who will develop the project, said it would be created in two stages.

The first would involve a single demonstration turbine followed by the construction of an array of up to 10 turbines. Work on the array could start in 2025, according to the company.

Meanwhile, another renewable energy developer has proposed installing Scotland's first offshore wind farm underwater substation in the Outer Moray Firth.

Aker Offshore Wind said the substation could be used to support wind farm projects in the firth.

Substations help move the energy created by wind turbines into homes and businesses and are usually installed above sea level.

Aker said moving them down to the seabed brought "several reliability and cost benefits", including using underwater sea temperatures as a natural cooling system.