Norway inaugurated on Wednesday in its waters of the North Sea the largest field of floating wind turbines in the world, a technology still emerging but considered promising for the energy transition. Composed of 11 turbines of 8.6 MW each, the Hywind Tampen field provides energy to five neighboring oil and gas platforms, meeting approximately 35% of their needs.
Entering production at the end of last year, it was officially inaugurated on Wednesday by Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon and the country’s Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, about 140 km from the coast. “Europeans and we all need more electricity. The war in Ukraine has reinforced this,” said Jonas Gahr Støre, quoted by the Norwegian agency NTB. “This electricity must be of renewable origin if Europe wants to achieve its climate objectives,” he added.
Unlike so-called “standing” offshore wind turbines, fixed on foundations at the bottom of the water, floating wind turbines are, as their name suggests, mounted on a floating structure held by anchoring devices. This allows them to be installed in deeper waters, further from the coast and where the wind is more stable, but their cost is also higher.
The construction of Hywind Tampen in depths between 260 and 300 meters cost some 7.4 billion crowns (640 million euros). “Yes, it’s expensive, but someone has to lead the way,” said the Prime Minister. In addition to Equinor, the project brings together the Norwegian public group Petoro, the Austrian OMV, Vår Energi – the Norwegian subsidiary of the Italian Eni -, the German Wintershall DEA and the Japanese Inpex.
