Kvaerner has signed a contract with Equinor to study how floating concrete substructures for offshore wind turbines can be designed and constructed for the planned Hywind Tampen project in the North Sea.
Image: Kvaerner will manage the project from its headquarters outside Oslo, Norway. Photo: Courtesy of Equinor.
Under the front-end engineering and design (FEED) assignment, Kvaerner will focus on further maturing the design of the concrete substructures, identifing appropriate construction sites, and developing a plan for construction, method and cost for production of 11 floating concrete substructures.
Kvaerner Renewables senior vice president Peder Christian Melleby said: “Another important part of the FEED contract is to establish an improvement agenda that targets cost and schedule drivers with the purpose of establishing the safest and most cost-efficient concept for project execution.
“This is a good match for the continuous cost and schedule improvement programmes Kvaerner has implemented over the past 4-5 years.”
In August 2018, Equinor and its partners announced that they had decided to explore the possibilities of supplying the Gullfaks and Snorre fields with power from floating offshore wind.
Hywind, the solution based on Equinor’s floating offshore wind concept, is a wind farm consisting of 11 wind turbines. The oil and gas platforms are expected to be the world’s first to receive parts of its power demand from floating wind turbines.
The wind turbines, each of 8MW capacity, are expected to produce a combined capacity of 88MW and is estimated to meet approximately 35% of the annual power demand for Snorre A and B, Gullfaks A, B and C platforms.
Melleby added: “During the FEED period we will develop the smartest possible solution to bring down the serial production cost and execution time for 11 concrete units, without compromising with Kvaerner’s renowned ability to deliver predictably.
“Our ambition is to present an attractive concept and delivery model to Equinor and its partners, and that they choose to realise the Hywind Tampen project with Kvaerner’s solution.”
The final FEED study report is expected to be delivered on 1 April 2019. Kvaerner will manage the project from its headquarters outside Oslo, Norway.
Kvaerner is a major player in marine concrete structures for oil and gas field developments, providing the full scope of engineering, procurement, construction & installation (EPCI) services for both fixed and floating platforms.