Overview

Hywind Tampen is currently (as of March 2024) the world's largest floating offshore wind farm project. Located in the Norwegian North Sea, the 88 MW offshore windmill supplies power for Equinor’s Oil and Gas operations in the North Sea region. 

The Hywind Tampen wind farm was officially inaugurated by the Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon. The offshore wind power plant aims to power Gullfaks and Snorre oil and gas fields and reduce 200,000 tonnes of CO2 emission yearly from the sites.

Background 

In 2009, Equinor began testing the Hywind design by building a demonstration unit off the shore of Karmoy, Norway, called Hywind Demo. This unit had a capacity of 2.5 MW. It was in November 2022 when power production started from the first turbine in the Hywind Tampen floating wind farm. 

The electricity was supplied to the Gullfaks A platform, which is located in the North Sea. Then, in May 2023, Equinor started to supply the power generated from the Hywind Tampen wind farm to oil production companies at the offshore Snorre complex. 

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Hywind Tampen Location

Hywind Tampen offshore wind station is situated approximately 140 kilometers off Norway's shore. It will be constructed in the Tampen region of the Norwegian North Sea, which is located between the oil fields of Snorre and Gullfaks. The water depth of this wind project is 260 to 300 meters. Floating turbines have the distinct benefit of being able to be installed in significantly deeper water than their fixed-bottom counterparts.

Technical Specifications

The system capacity of 88 MW is enough to supply 35% of the yearly electricity requirements on the Snorre A and B and Gullfaks A, B, and C oil and gas platforms. This capacity is achieved by 11 Siemens Gamesa SG 8.0-167 DD turbines. Each turbine has an output capacity of 8.6 MW (previously 8 MW). Furthermore, the wind turbine in the wind farm has a swept area of 21,900 m2 and features a rotor that is 167 meters in diameter and blades that are 81.5 meters in length.

These turbines are mounted on floating concrete spar structures in water depths ranging from 260 m to 300 m. The floating concrete hull structures were built by Kvaerner. 

The wind farm is further connected with a changing inter-array cable system with a length of 2.5 KM supplied by Subsea 7 is used to connect the wind turbines in a loop. Two independent static export cables, one measuring 12.9 kilometers and the other measuring 16 kilometers in length, are used to connect the loop to the Snorre A and Gullfaks A platforms.

Contractors Involved

Project cost 

Back in 2019, OMV came to a definitive conclusion regarding its investment in Hywind Tampen after consulting with its licensing partners in Gullfaks and Snorre. Approximately 650 million euros were invested in the project in order to finish the floating wind farm. ENOVA, a Norwegian government corporation that is responsible for the promotion of ecologically sound projects, will cover approximately 35 percent of the project investment.

Equinor ASA, the project developer, estimated the total cost of the floating offshore wind project in Norway to be around NOK 7.4 billion (USD 740 million). This project cost includes a subsidy totaling NOK 2.9 billion (USD 290 million). Enova supported this project with NOK 2.3 billion (USD 256.5 million), whereas the Norwegian Business Sector's NoX fund helped with NOK 566 million (53.3 million dollars).

Environmental Impact

Being a first-of-its-kind renewable power project exclusively used for oil and gas operations, Hywind Tampen can offset approximately 200,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year. Additionally, it can also significantly reduce nitrogen oxide emissions while generating 384,000MWh renewable energy per year.

Current Status & Future Outlook

Fully operational in August 2023, the Hywind Tampen project fulfills about 35% of the power requirement in the Snorre and Gullfaks offshore oil and gas platforms operated by Equinor. As per Equinor, the wind project in the North Sea serves as a test bed for further development of floating wind farm technology. 

It explores new turbine sizes, installation methods, moorings, concrete substructures, and integration between gas and wind power generation systems. This pioneering project paves the way for future offshore wind farms by industrializing solutions and reducing costs.

Summing up 

• Hywind Tampen wind farm (88 MW) is the first and currently the world's largest floating offshore wind farm.
• Natural renewable energy from the wind is utilized at the Hywind Tampen offshore wind farm to support oil and gas production.
• Hywind Tampen wind farm is located approximately 140 kilometers off Norway's shore in water depths of 260 to 300 meters.
• This USD 740 million wind project is jointly developed by Norwegian energy firms Equinor, Petoro, OMV, Vår Energi, Wintershall Dea, and INPEX Idemitsu with Equinor as the main developer.

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