The Hywind Tampen project is now moving from Stord to the deep-water site at Dommersnes where the concrete slipforming of the spar-substructures will be completed. This is the first concrete slipforming for an offshore project on the Norwegian continental shelf since the Troll A platform was delivered in 1995.
Hywind Tampen is an 88-megawatt floating wind power project intended to provide electricity for the Snorre and Gullfaks offshore field operations in the Norwegian North Sea.
Hywind Tampen will be the world’s largest floating offshore wind farm and the world’s first to power offshore oil and gas platforms.
It is also the first floating wind project from Equinor using concrete technology for wind projects.
This week the company commenced the transport of 11 substructures from the Aker Solutions yard at Stord, where the first 20 metres have been built, to the deep-water site at Dommersnes, where the slipforming work will continue to 107,5 metres.
Olav-Bernt Haga, Equinor’s project director for Hywind Tampen, commented: “The project represents a direct transfer of technology from oil and gas to renewable. The giant Troll A substructure was 369 metres. Now we are building 11 small Trolls. The project is on schedule despite the challenges around COVID-19.”
2021 is the year of manufacturing for this pioneer project. Whilst the structures are being built at Stord and Dommersnes, the steel anchors are being welded together at Aker Solutions yard in Verdal. The nacelles, blades and turbine towers will be produced in Europe and shipped to Wergelands base in Gulen.
The substructures will be towed to Gulen when the slipforming and mechanical completion work is completed at Dommersnes.
In 2022 all the elements will be collected at the site in Gulen and the assembly work will start using what is probably the largest crane that has been onshore in Norway.
“We plan to start towing the completed wind turbines to Tampen early summer of 2022 and complete the offshore work by the end of the year. This is a large and complex industrial project where we use our experience from oil and gas projects,” said Haga.
As the operator of Hywind Tampen, Equinor will be responsible for operation and maintenance of the wind farm.
Partners:
- The Gullfaks licence: Equinor Energy AS: 51 per cent, Petoro AS: 30 per cent, OMV (Norge) AS: 19 per cent.
- The Snorre licence: Equinor Energy AS: 33.3 per cent, Petoro AS: 30 per cent, Idemitsu Petroleum Norge AS: 9.6 per cent, Wintershall Dea Norge AS: 8.6 per cent, Vår Energi AS: 18.6 per cent.
