Floating wind turbine
![The world’s first full-scale floating wind turbine, Hywind, being assembled in the Åmøy Fjord near Stavanger, Norway in 2009, before deployment in the North Sea](/Images/godic/202501/19/Hywind2438.jpg")
![The world's second full-scale floating wind turbine (and first to be installed without the use of heavy-lift vessels), WindFloat, operating at rated capacity (2 MW) approximately 5 km offshore of Aguçadoura, Portugal](/Images/godic/202501/19/Agucadoura_WindFloat_Prototype2438.jpg")
![A tension leg mooring system as used by Blue H: left-hand tower-bearing structure (grey) is free floating, the right-hand structure is pulled by the tensioned cables (red) down towards the seabed anchors (light-grey).](/Images/godic/202501/19/Floating_tension_leg_wind_turbine_diagram.svg2438.png")
![A single floating cylindrical spar buoy moored by catenary cables. Hywind uses a ballasted catenary layout that adds 60 tonne weights hanging from the midpoint of each anchor cable to provide additional tension.](/Images/godic/202501/19/Floating_loose_mooring_catenary_plain.svg2438.png")
A floating wind turbine is an offshore wind turbine mounted on a floating structure that allows the turbine to generate electricity in water depths where bottom-mounted towers are not feasible. Locating wind farms out at sea can reduce visual pollution while providing better accommodation for fishing and shipping lanes. In addition, the wind is typically more consistent and stronger over the sea, due to the absence of topographic features that disrupt wind flow.