Hywind Tampen, a facility described as the world’s largest floating wind farm, produced its first power over the weekend, with more turbines set to come online this year. Norwegian power giant Equinor said Hywind Tampen’s first power was delivered to the Gullfaks A platform in the North Sea.
The Hywind Tampen is located some 140 km (87 miles) off the coast of Norway, in depths ranging from 260 to 300 meters. The wind farm is expected to meet about 35% of the electricity demand of Gullfaks and Snorre fields, which according to the company, will cut CO2 emissions from the fields by about 200,000 tonnes per year.
Seven of eleven wind turbines are slated to come on stream in 2022, while the remaining four will be installed on the field during a weather window next year. When completed, the Hywind Tampen will have a system capacity of 88 MW. Even with just seven turbines on stream Hywind Tampen will be the world’s largest floating wind farm with a capacity of 60 MW.
“The Norwegian content of the project is about 60%. This shows that we, together with our partners and suppliers, are building a new industry on the shoulders of the oil and gas business utilizing the competencies we together have acquired over many decades,” says Geir Tungesvik, Equinor’s executive vice president for Projects, Drilling and Procurement.
With its world-class resources, the North Sea will continue to play a key role also in the energy transition and in the energy security of Europe and Norway. The Hywind Tampen wind farm represents a first step towards developing a new industry within the offshore wind in Norway, contributing to reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy supplies.
“Hywind Tampen cuts emissions from the oil and gas industry and increases gas export to Europe. This is an important contribution towards transforming the Norwegian continental shelf from an oil and gas province to a broad energy province. Just a few years ago, no one would have believed that offshore platforms could be powered by electricity from floating wind turbines. Well, now we have started,” says Kjetil Hove, Equinor’s executive vice president for Exploration and Production Norway.
