Equinor claims it has begun construction on the world's largest floating offshore wind farm The development of the Hywind Tampen floating offshore wind farm involves around 250 full-time equivalents for Kværner employees.

Kværner's offshore floating wind farm project will also generate around 800 full-time equivalents in ripple effects for suppliers and the public sector, among others, Equinor says.

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“The development of the floating offshore wind farm is a new chapter in Norway's narrative as a wind power nation. With the support of the Norwegian authorities, we are not just building Norway's first offshore wind project; we are refining floating offshore wind technology together with the Norwegian supply industry,” said the president and CEO from Equinor, Eldar Sætre.

Equinor wants to make wind energy competitive in the energy market

Equinor's ambition is for floating offshore wind to be competitive with other forms of energy by 2030. “By using larger turbines, concrete substructures, new technology and a new assembly method, we are on track to meet the objective of reducing costs by over 40% compared to Hywind Scotland.

This is an important step towards establishing floating wind power as an alternative sustainable energy supply,” said Hywind Tampen Project Director Olav-Bernt Haga.

“If more large floating offshore wind farm projects are undertaken in the future, it will be possible to reduce costs even further, and we could see a development in cost reductions equivalent to what we have seen in fixed foundation offshore wind.”

Offshore wind energy for oil and gas platforms

The Hywind Tampen project will be the first floating offshore wind farm to provide renewable energy for oil and gas facilities. The wind farm is expected to cover around 35 percent of annual energy needs on the five platforms Snorre A and B and Gullfaks A, B and C.

Located about 140 kilometers off the Norwegian coast in water depths between 260 and 300 meters, Hywind Tampen will reduce emissions from the Gullfaks and Snorre fields by more than 200.000 tonnes per year, which corresponds to the annual emissions of 100.000 private vehicles, said Equinor.

When the Hywind Tampen project becomes operational in the third quarter of 2022, Equinor will be operating one-third of the global floating offshore wind capacity.