DEME Offshore has signed an agreement with Norwegian energy company Equinor to take up a study to examine the potential of floating concrete substructures for the Hywind Tampen wind farm project.
Image: DEME Offshore to study concrete substructure feasibility at Hywind Tampen project. Photo: Courtesy of DEME.
DEME Offshore signed the agreement last December. With a five month duration, the study is part of the engineering works before the final investment decision on the floating wind farm, which will be located in the North Sea off Norway’s coast.
The scope of the front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract is to develop and optimize the design and construction methodology for 11 concrete substructures including secondary steel outfitting, mooring arrangement and project execution strategy.
Previously, Equinor commissioned the world’s first 30MW floating offshore wind farm in Scotland in 2017. The present project, Hywind Tampen is expected to be the world’s first offshore wind farm to power existing oil platforms. The wind farm will include 11 of 8MW turbines, which will supply about 35% of the annual power demand of the five Snorre A and B and Gullfaks A, B and C oil and gas platforms.
DEME Offshore general manager Bart De Poorter said: “At DEME Offshore we are confident that floating wind energy has the potential to play a key role in the future energy mix.
“With our vast track record in providing innovative solutions for the offshore energy market and our extensive EPCI experience in major offshore wind projects, we aim to be at the forefront of this emerging industry.
“The Hywind Tampen project is considered to be a milestone for the floating offshore wind industry and we are excited to be involved in this challenging project to further broaden our technological capabilities.”
Last August, Equinor and its partners contemplated installing a floating wind farm to power the Snorre and Gullfaks oil and gas platforms. The partners propose to the 88MW floating offshore wind farm with an investment of around NOK5bn ($600m).
The Hywind Tampen floating wind farm is backed by an investment of NOK566m ($67.63m) from the Norwegian NOx Fund.