The largest floating wind farm in the world is now operational!

Destination Norway for the commissioning of the Hywind Tampen wind farm, with a production capacity of 88 megawatts (MW).

While two-thirds of the wind turbines are already operational, Equinor, the oil company behind this project, wants to use them to supply electrical energy to its nearby oil extraction platforms.

Seven of the eleven wind turbines are already operational

Launched in October 2019, the Hywind Tampen wind farm project is in partial service on November 15, 2022 and thus begins its production of electrical energy. Located in the North Sea off the coast of Norway, about 140 kilometers from the coast of the country, and in depths of between 260 and 300 meters, Hywind Tampen is quite simply the largest floating wind farm in the world.

In total, 11 wind turbines with a power of 8 MW each are part of the project, but as it stands, only seven are up and operational. This did not prevent the inauguration of the park by Equinor, while the four other wind turbines must be mounted during the year 2023 depending on weather conditions. Ultimately, the objective is to move to a production capacity of 8.6 MW per wind turbine, or 94.6 MW.

This wind farm cost the whopping 522 million dollars (502 million euros) to Equinor, including around 200 million euros financed by the public company Enova, responsible for promoting the use of renewable energy in Norway. The NOx Fund has also contributed 55 million euros, which gives a bill borne half by Equinor partners.

Wind power to extract… fossil energy

And for good reason, the goal is to contribute around 35% of the electricity demand of five oil extraction platforms, Snorre (A and B) and Gullfaks (A, B and C) instead of turbines powered by gas. Enough, according to Equinor, to avoid the emission of 200,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year and 1,000 tonnes of NOx, hence the financial contribution of the NOx Fund to this project. This corresponds to the emissions of approximately 100,000 thermal vehicles per year according to Equinor.

The Hywind Tampen floating wind farm illustrates Norway’s two-headed strategy, with, on the one hand, a 55% reduction in its CO emissions₂ by 2030 compared to 1990 emission level and the first electric car fleet per capita globally. On the other hand, the country does not intend to give up gas and oil extraction, Gullfalks and Snorre being planned to be exploited until 2036 and 2040 respectively.

Oil accounts for 40% of Norway’s annual exports. Regarding wind power, the kingdom intends to go even further, since by 2040, the electricity production capacity via floating wind farms must reach 30 GW.

Sources: Electrek, Equinor