Statoil has constructed the world’s first full-scale floating wind turbine two hours off the coast of the oil town Stavanger, in the hope that one day vast wind farms could be constructed far offshore in water depths of up to 700m.

The most interesting aspects of the turbine can be found in the depths of the sea, where a 100m long steel cylinder weighing 3,000 tonnes thanks to its ballast of water and rocks is anchored to the sea-bed with mooring lines that can hold the structure at depths of up to 700m.

There is tremendous potential for economies of scale, both in terms of mass production, which reduces the cost of each turbine, and in terms of the construction and management of vast wind farms offshore where there are few limits on available acreages.