The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Industry approved plans for development and operation of Equinor’s Hywind Tampen wind farm, making its Snorre and Gullfaks platforms the first in the world to receive power from a floating offshore wind farm.
Approval for the wind farm comes 6 months after Equinor reached its final investment decision, which may signal the start of a new era in powering platforms.
The wind farm, located around 140 km from the Norwegian shore between the Snorre and Gullfaks platforms, 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 will meet about 35% of annual power demand of the five platforms: Snorre A and B, and Gullfaks A, B, and C. Equinor said by reducing the use of gas turbines on the fields, the project will help reduce CO2 emissions by more than 200,000 tonnes/year, corresponding to annual emissions from 100,000 private cars.
The Hywind Tampen investment will be close to NOK 5 billion ($488 million). Norway granted funding of up to NOK 2.3 billion through Enova, while the country’s business sector NOx fund supports the project with NOK 566 million.
Anders Opedal, Equinor’s executive vice president for technology, projects, and drilling, said on behalf of the partners, it awarded contracts totaling NOK 3.4 billion, subject to final project approval by Norwegian authorities.
“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,” Opedal said.
Equinor also cited a study from Multiconsult, showing the Hywind Tampen project will create spinoff effects during the project’s life of 1,550 to 3,000 man-years for Norway’s trade and industry. Most of these effects will occur in the project’s development phase.
The wind farm is scheduled for startup at the end of 2022.