Construction starts on the world's largest floating offshore wind farm
Prime Minister Erna Solberg and Kværner apprentice Arne Linga started construction of Hywind Tampen, a floating offshore wind farm, at Kværner Stord. The technology project opens up new opportunities for Norwegian industry.
Prime Minister Solberg and Linga started the cutting robot on the project's first sheet of steel on Thursday, 1 October. Kværner’s assignment will include building 11 floating concrete hulls for the turbines on Hywind Tampen.
"Hywind Tampen is a new chapter in Norway’s narrative as an energy nation. With support from the Norwegian authorities, we're not only building Norway’s first offshore wind project; we're refining floating offshore wind technology along with the Norwegian supplier industry," says Equinor president and CEO Eldar Sætre.
"Eighty percent 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," Sætre says.
The development of the Hywind Tampen project involves around 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 1,550 to 3,000 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're 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," says 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," Haga says.
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 percent of the annual electrical 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 tonnes per year, which corresponds to annual emissions from 100,000 private vehicles.
Equinor has been a pioneer in floating offshore wind technology and has been working on this technology for nearly 20 years. When the Hywind Tampen project is operational in 2022, the company will be operating one-third of the global floating offshore wind capacity.
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Facts
- Fabrication of the wind turbines has been awarded to Siemens Gamesa, and will take place in multiple locations in Europe before the turbines are transported to Wergeland Base in Gulen in Vestland county, where they will be assembled.
- The electric cables will be supplied by JDR Cable System Ltd, which will be fabricating them in Hartlepool in the UK.
- Subsea 7 AS will be responsible for installing the electric cables and connection to the Snorre and Gullfaks platforms.
- Wood group will be responsible for modifications on the Snorre and Gullfaks platforms.
As the operator, Equinor will be responsible for operation and maintenance of the wind farm.
Partners:
- The Gullfaks licence: Equinor Energy AS: 51%, Petoro AS: 30%, OMV (Norge) AS: 19%.
- The Snorre licence: Equinor Energy AS: 33.3%, Petoro AS: 30%, , Idemitsu Petroleum Norge AS: 9.6%, Wintershall Dea Norge AS: 8.6%, Vår Energi AS: 18.6 %.
Hywind Tampen facts
- Along with our partners, we are developing the world's first floating offshore wind farm to supply renewable power to offshore oil and gas installations.
- Aims to cover parts of the power needed to supply the Snorre and Gullfaks oil and gas fields with floating wind power.
- The investment in Hywind Tampen will be just under NOK 5 billion. Through Enova, the Norwegian authorities have awarded funding support up to NOK 2.3 billion. The Business Sector's NOx Fund has also decided to support the project with up to NOK 566 million.
- Eleven units with a total capacity of 88 MW.
- Located about 140 km off the Norwegian coast.
- Water depth in the wind farm area is between 260 and 300 metres.
- Significant reduction in CO2 emissions, estimated at 200,000 tonnes per year.
- Installed on floating concrete structures with a shared anchoring system delivered by Kværner.
- Equipped with eleven turbines of the type Siemens Gamesa SG 8.0-167 DD.
- With a 167-metre diameter rotor and 81.5-metre-long blades, each turbine in the wind farm will have a swept area of 21,900 square metres.
- The wind turbines will be connected in a network with a capacity of 66kV.
- Scheduled to start up in the third quarter of 2022.
The contracts and who they were awarded to
- Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy: Turbine Supply Agreement; Design, procurement and fabrication of the wind turbines, assembly and completion on land and at sea.
- Wind turbine maintenance will be carried out by Siemens Gamesa's Norwegian service organisation, which has been awarded a 5-year contract in connection with the wind turbine delivery.
- Kværner AS: Hulls; Design, procurement and fabrication of hulls and marine operations, incl. administration of assembly site; Planning and execution of all activities at the assembly site. Procurement (option), design and installation of the anchoring system. All marine activities associated with assembling the wind turbines on land, moving the floating wind turbines, and towing and anchoring out on the field.
- The turbines will be assembled at Wergeland Base in Gulen in Vestland county.
- JDR Cable Systems: Cables; Design, procurement and fabrication of export cables and cables between each wind turbine.
- Subsea 7: Cable installation; Installation of cables between the turbines and between the farm and Snorre A and Gullfaks A.
- Wood Group: Modification work on Gullfaks and Snorre.