The Beatrice oil field 12 miles off the Caithness coast is now home to one of two giant 5MW wind turbines. At 5pm on 20th August the first turbine left Nigg Fabrication Yard - where it was assembled - and was sailed out through the Cromarty Souters onwards into position atop a 70m subsea jacket in approximately 45m of water.

The turbine will be joined by an identical neighbour by the end of August and the pair will sit adjacent to the Beatrice Alpha Platform. The first electricity is expected to be generated in late September and from there onwards will provide an estimated 30% of Beatrice's 14MW daily electricity requirements.

Piles are driven 44m into the sea-bed upon which the 70m sub sea jacket is fixed. From there the 59m turbine tower sits on the jacket and the blades - measuring 61.5m each - are fixed to the hub, making an astonishing overall height from sub sea to blade tip of 234.5m. From sea level to rotor blade tip it measures 148.5m - which if laid flat would be the equivalent length of one-and-a-half football pitches.

A consortium of 17 organisations led by Talisman Energy (UK) Ltd partnered by Scottish and Southern Energy have created the DOWNViND (Distant Offshore Windfarms with No Visual Impact in Deepwater) Project. The aim of the project is to test the performance of the Beatrice turbines in order to determine the potential viability of offshore deepwater windfarms.

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