Offshore staff
STAVANGER, Norway – The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Industry has approved the plans for development and operation of the Hywind Tampen wind farm in the North Sea.
According to Equinor, the Snorre and Gullfaks platforms will be the first platforms in the world to receive power from a floating offshore wind farm.
On Oct. 11, 2019, Equinor and the Snorre and Gullfaks partners submitted two updated plans for development and operation to Norwegian authorities.
The wind farm will consist of 11 wind turbines based on the Hywind wind farm concept developed by Equinor. The 8 MW turbines will have a total capacity of 88 MW and meet about 35% of the annual power demand of the five platforms Snorre A and B and Gullfaks A, B and C. The wind farm will be about 140 km (87 mi) from shore, between the Snorre and Gullfaks platforms, at a water depth of 260 to 300 m (853 to 984 ft).
Operated from Equinor’s offices in Bergen, Hywind Tampen is scheduled for start-up at the end of 2022.
By reducing the use of gas turbines on the fields, the project is expected to help reduce CO2 emissions by more than 200,000 metric tons per year, corresponding to annual emissions from 100,000 private cars.
The Hywind Tampen investment is expected to be about NOK 5 billion ($486 million), Equinor said. Norwegian authorities have granted funding of up to NOK 2.3 billion ($224 million) through Enova. The Business Sector’s NOx fund has decided to support the project by up to NOK 566 million ($55 million).
Anders Opedal, executive vice president for Technology, Projects & Drilling, said: “As the whole industry is currently experiencing much uncertainty, it is vital that we progress projects that spur technology development in the renewables segment and create spinoff effects on the Norwegian supplier industry.”
According to a study made by Multiconsult, the Hywind Tampen project will create spinoff effects during the project’s life of 1,550 to 3,000 man-years for Norwegian trade and industry. Most of the spinoff effects will occur in the project’s development phase.
Partners in the Gullfaks license are Equinor Energy AS: 51%, Petoro AS: 30%, and OMV (Norge) AS: 19%.
Partners in the Snorre license are Equinor Energy AS: 33.3%, Petoro AS: 30%, Idemitsu Petroleum Norge AS: 9.6%, Wintershall DEA Norge AS: 8.6%, and Vår Energi AS: 18.6%.
04/08/2020
