Hywind Scotland Floating Offshore Wind Farm: Sound Source Characterisation of Operational Floating Turbines
March 2022 — Scotland
Client: Equinor Energy AS
Sound measurements and analysis for the world’s first floating offshore wind farm. Located in the North Sea off the east coast of Scotland, Hywind Scotland comprises five floating wind turbines, each sitting atop a spar buoy that is moored to the seabed. JASCO measured the underwater sound from one turbine for three months using a four-hydrophone tetrahedral array to allow bearing discrimination between sounds from different directions. The sound signature of the turbine was fully characterized, consisting mainly of low-frequency tonal noise associated with rotating rotor and generator components. In addition, the sources of more broadband transient mooring noises were localized.
