Ocean & Marine · Recorded milestone

Floating wind turbines

Recorded year2009

Statoil's Hywind, the first large floating wind turbine, rides on a spar moored in 220 m of water off Norway; the first floating wind farm follows off Scotland in 2017.

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Built on

Offshore oil platformRecorded · 1947enables
MicroprocessorRecorded · 1971requires
Power transistors (IGBT)Recorded · 1983requires
Offshore wind farmRecorded · 1991enables

Led to

Ocean thermal energyForecast · ~2036enables
Tidal and wave power at scaleForecast · ~2038enables
Floating citiesForecast · ~2040enables

Sources & evidence

Additional source

Dataset updated 2026-10-18. This individual record has not been separately re-reviewed.