Equinor launches next generation floating offshore wind
Through twenty years of floating offshore wind experience and innovations, Equinor has developed a set of design principles and solutions that are applicable across floating wind concepts that will enable more local content and industrial standardisation.
As the leading floating offshore wind developer, Equinor’s constant focus is to find out how technology can be deployed cost effectively whilst maximising local benefits. By standardising a set of key design principles and solutions for floating wind, we are taking an important step towards developing competitive full-scale floating wind farms, demonstrating that floating offshore wind is deployable at scale, in different geographies, and cost effective with local adaptability to the supply chain.
The following design principles and solutions for floating wind are viable across the main types of floating concepts:
- A patented floater motion controller, which ensures the floating wind turbine remains stable while delivering optimal power production, introducing new features and adapted to semi-concepts.
- A new floater substructure complementing the Hywind spar, based on simple geometry design and passive ballast, that ensures cost optimal units with maximum reliability.
- Mooring systems where we are introducing fibre rope in addition to chain solutions that will lower cost and enhance opportunities for local content, ensuring safe station keeping.
- Optimised dynamic cable solutions, new types of cable layouts that will reduce investment and maintenance costs and secure high power production.
- Optimised export solutions, introducing floating and first of its kind seabed substations.
Equinor is technology agnostic and will select the best suited floating wind concept for its projects. Water depths, available and suitable cost-efficient fabrication yards and ports, and capacities of the local supply chain are primary drivers for selecting a given design.
Building on Hywind, Equinor has developed a new floating concept, the Wind Semi, a semisubmersible wind turbine. Based on our design principles, the Wind Semi will give optimal stability and power production and facilitate large scale industrialisation of floating wind. Additionally, it will allow for local fabrication and assembly, encouraging local supply chain development.
Floating turbines are designed to float in the water allowing offshore wind development where the water is too deep for bottom-fixed solutions.
Most offshore wind floater designs are similar to the ones applied for the oil and gas platforms. Floating turbines are moored to the seabed with multiple mooring lines and anchors, in much the same way as a floating oil platform. Floating wind turbine motion controllers stabilises the turbine through regulating the turbine blades, optimising power production and reducing stress on tower, substructure and moorings.