Norway opens world's largest floating wind park
Norway inaugurated the world's largest floating offshore wind power farm, the Hywind Tampen, on Wednesday. The country is aiming to double its offshore wind output by 2040.
The project, which comes with a price tag of 7.4 billion kroner, is expected to eliminate roughly 0.5 percent of Norway's greenhouse gas emissions.
Located 140 kilometres off the Norwegian coast near Florø in the west, Hywind Tampen houses 11 floating wind turbines. It is the largest floating offshore wind farm in the world - and Norway's first.
The turbines turbines will provide 35 percent of the power needed for the Snorre and Gullfaks oil and gas platforms in the North Sea.
Norway's PM Jonas Gahr Støre was at the official opening of the wind farm, along with Crown Prince Haakon.
"We are entering a new energy age. We are in a shift where oil and gas use will go down, while sea, wind and solar will go up. Norway is at the forefront of this, based on the expertise of professionals who have worked in this sector since the 70s. This is the way to go," he said.
According to Equinor, the project's main investor, Hywind Tampen is expected to slash 200,000 tonnes of CO2 and 1,000 tonnes of NOx annually.
This is equivalent to mitigating the pollution emitted by around 100,000 fossil fuel-powered cars yearly.
Chief Analyst for Sustainable Finance at Nordea, Thina Saltvedt, said that while Hywind Tampen was in important project for Euqinor, it would have a modest impact on emissions overall.
Saltvedt suggests that despite this, the project could catalyse international competitiveness in green energy, contributing to CO2 reduction if the technology can be scaled and costs lowered.
"It can become an important technology and energy source that has the potential to become internationally competitive in the green shift and a good contribution to cutting CO2 emissions," Saltvedt told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK.
Norway is aiming to generate 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2040, which would be double the country's current output. It will tender its first commercial wind farms, including three floating ones, this autumn.
Hywind Tampen commenced partial operation in November 2022, but the facility is now fully operational.
The project has faced challenges, including increased costs due to the pandemic, supply delays stemming from the Ukraine war, and the devaluation of the krone exchange rate.
Roughly 2.9 billion kroner of the project's funding came from Norwegian taxpayers via Enova and the NOx fund.
The petroleum tax system also enables developers to deduct 78 percent of their costs, effectively reducing Equinor's contribution, NRK reports.
That means that, overall, Equinor had to put up 1.1 billion kroner for this venture.
Comments
See Also
The project, which comes with a price tag of 7.4 billion kroner, is expected to eliminate roughly 0.5 percent of Norway's greenhouse gas emissions.
Located 140 kilometres off the Norwegian coast near Florø in the west, Hywind Tampen houses 11 floating wind turbines. It is the largest floating offshore wind farm in the world - and Norway's first.
The turbines turbines will provide 35 percent of the power needed for the Snorre and Gullfaks oil and gas platforms in the North Sea.
Norway's PM Jonas Gahr Støre was at the official opening of the wind farm, along with Crown Prince Haakon.
"We are entering a new energy age. We are in a shift where oil and gas use will go down, while sea, wind and solar will go up. Norway is at the forefront of this, based on the expertise of professionals who have worked in this sector since the 70s. This is the way to go," he said.
According to Equinor, the project's main investor, Hywind Tampen is expected to slash 200,000 tonnes of CO2 and 1,000 tonnes of NOx annually.
This is equivalent to mitigating the pollution emitted by around 100,000 fossil fuel-powered cars yearly.
Chief Analyst for Sustainable Finance at Nordea, Thina Saltvedt, said that while Hywind Tampen was in important project for Euqinor, it would have a modest impact on emissions overall.
Saltvedt suggests that despite this, the project could catalyse international competitiveness in green energy, contributing to CO2 reduction if the technology can be scaled and costs lowered.
"It can become an important technology and energy source that has the potential to become internationally competitive in the green shift and a good contribution to cutting CO2 emissions," Saltvedt told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK.
Norway is aiming to generate 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2040, which would be double the country's current output. It will tender its first commercial wind farms, including three floating ones, this autumn.
Hywind Tampen commenced partial operation in November 2022, but the facility is now fully operational.
The project has faced challenges, including increased costs due to the pandemic, supply delays stemming from the Ukraine war, and the devaluation of the krone exchange rate.
Roughly 2.9 billion kroner of the project's funding came from Norwegian taxpayers via Enova and the NOx fund.
The petroleum tax system also enables developers to deduct 78 percent of their costs, effectively reducing Equinor's contribution, NRK reports.
That means that, overall, Equinor had to put up 1.1 billion kroner for this venture.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.