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Construction starts on Norwegian floating offshore wind farm

Published by , Editorial Assistant
Energy Global,


Prime Minister Erna Solberg and Kværner apprentice Arne Linga started construction of Hywind Tampen, a floating offshore wind farm at Kværner Stord. The cutting robot on the project’s first sheet of steel was started on 1 October 2020.

"Hywind Tampen is a new chapter in Norway’s narrative as an energy nation. With support from the Norwegian authorities, we are not only building Norway’s first offshore wind project; we are refining floating offshore wind technology along with the Norwegian supplier industry," said Equinor President and CEO Eldar Sætre.

"80% of the world's offshore wind resources are located in deep water areas and are available for floating offshore wind projects. If we can use projects like Hywind Tampen to make floating offshore wind competitive with other forms of energy, the technology will be able to deliver large-scale renewable power and contribute to a more sustainable global energy supply. A floating offshore wind market will also open up considerable industrial opportunities for Norwegian industry," said Sætre.

As part of the project, Kværner will build 11 floating concrete hulls for the turbines on Hywind Tampen.

The development of the Hywind Tampen project involves approximately 250 full-time equivalents for Kværner employees. Kværner's project will also generate around 800 full-time equivalents in ripple effects for suppliers and the public sector, among others.

A study conducted by Multiconsult shows that, in total, the Hywind Tampen project could provide 1550 – 3000 full-time equivalents in ripple effects for the Norwegian private sector.

Equinor's ambition is for floating offshore wind to be competitive with other forms of energy by 2030.

"By using larger turbines, concrete substructures, new technology and a new assembly method, we are well on our way toward delivering on the objective to reduce costs by more than 40% compared with Hywind Scotland. This is an important step to establish floating wind as a sustainable power supply alternative," said Hywind Tampen Project Director Olav-Bernt Haga.

"If more major floating offshore wind projects are realised in the future, it will be possible to reduce costs even further, and we could see a development in cost reductions equivalent to the one we've seen in fixed foundation offshore wind," said Haga.

Equinor sees a potential for floating offshore wind projects in Norway, the UK, Europe, the US and Asia.

The Hywind Tampen project will be the first floating offshore wind project to supply renewable power for oil and gas installations. The wind farm will have a total capacity of 88 MW, and is expected to cover about 35% of annual power needs on the five platforms; Snorre A and B, and Gullfaks A, B and C.

Hywind Tampen will reduce emissions from the Gullfaks and Snorre fields by more than 200 000 tpy, which corresponds to annual emissions from 100 000 private vehicles.


For more news and technical articles from the global renewable industry read our latest issue of Energy Global magazine.

Energy Global’s Summer 2020 issue

The Summer issue of Energy Global provides in-depth technical articles covering technological advancements and future outlooks in the renewables sector, from companies including Sulzer, Power Ledger, JinkoSolar, Trelleborg Applied Technologies, Clir Renewables, and many more. The issue covers a spectrum of clean energies, from wind to hydrogen to solar to biofuels.

Read the article online at: https://www.energyglobal.com/wind/07102020/construction-starts-on-norwegian-floating-offshore-wind-farm/

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