Hywind Tampen floating wind farm illustration

The world’s first large-scale floating offshore wind farm, built to power oil and gas facilities

Norwegian energy company Equinor, which is very active in the field of wind power, has developed one of the world’s first large-scale floating wind farms in the North Sea to decarbonise the exploitation of its offshore oil and gas fields. Comprising 11 machines with a unit capacity of 8.8 MW, this project has helped to advance floating wind technology. Dr.techn. Olav Olsen, Artelia’s Norwegian subsidiary, was at the heart of the operation, developing the concept of the floating platform supporting these wind turbines.

88 MW

nominal capacity

35%

of the site’s electricity needs

11

floating wind turbines

CONTEXT & ISSUES

Equinor is a major international energy company, under Norwegian state control, whose activities, originally focused on hydrocarbons, are now extending to renewable energies. In particular, it is a leading player in wind energy, and recently announced its intention to expand its wind energy production capacity by building new offshore facilities. The Hywind Tampen floating wind farm it developed to supply electricity to its Snorre and Gullfaks oil and gas fields in the Norwegian North Sea was a first, and today remains one of the largest in operation anywhere in the world.

Dr.techn. Olav Olsen, Artelia’s Norwegian subsidiary, contributed to this innovative project by developing the concept and carrying out the studies for a Hywind-type floating solution to support these offshore wind turbines. Its teams dimensioned the concept and studied its stability, carrying out dynamic analyses, structural analyses and the design of the steel tower substructure and mooring lines. They then continued to provide analytical support to Equinor throughout the detailed design phase. Dr.techn. Olav Olsen also worked closely with the wind turbine supplier on the manufacturing method, costing and forward planning.

Photo credits: Equinor