On Wednesday, the Hywind Tampen wind farm went online in Norway. The facility went online during a ceremony attended by Crown Prince Haakon. With a system capacity of 88 MW, Hywind Tampen is the largest floating offshore wind farm in the world.
Significantly, the Hywind Tampen facility will provide electricity to Norway’s Gullfaks and Snorre oil fields. This is the first time in history when oil fields have been powered by offshore wind. The implementation of Hywind Tampen is expected to lead to an annual reduction of 200,000 tons of CO2 emissions from significant oil and gas producers in the North Sea.
The Norwegian company Equinor is operating the wind farm. The company built the wind farm in collaboration with the Gullfaks and Snorre partnerships, as well as Enova.
According to Kjetil Hove, Equinor’s Executive Vice President for the Norwegian continental shelf, the Hywind Tampen project has provided both Equinor and the supplier industry with valuable insights. These insights will play a crucial role in scaling up offshore wind development in Norway and globally.
The wind farm comprises 11 wind turbines based on Equinor’s floating Hywind concept. Hywind Tampen is estimated to meet approximately 35% of the annual electricity demand for the Snorre A and B platforms, as well as the Gullfaks A, B, and C platforms. The management of the wind farm is conducted from Equinor’s office in the Norwegian city of Bergen.
Siri Kindem, the head of Equinor’s renewables business in Norway, noted the significance of the Hywind Tampen project. By successfully planning, constructing, and commissioning the world’s largest offshore wind farm, Equinor has demonstrated its capabilities.
Moving forward, Equinor’s aim is to enhance its expertise, expand project sizes, reduce costs, and establish a new industry backed by the foundations of the oil and gas sector.
From conception to completion, the Hywind Tampen project has realized its goals within five years.
Notably, 60% of the project’s contract values have been awarded to Norwegian suppliers. This has stimulated new economic activity and created green jobs. It has also helped position Norway as a technological hub in the offshore wind industry.
In terms of cost, the Hywind Tampen project offers significant savings compared to the Hywind Scotland offshore wind farm, which was the first of its kind globally. Adjusting for price changes since 2016/2017, the investment cost for Hywind Tampen is approximately 35 percent lower per installed MW.
Image Source: Equinor, https://shorturl.at/bEV19
