The contract that Equinor has awarded to Kvaerner also covers marine operations services for the Hywind Tampen project, which is expected to become the world’s largest floating offshore wind farm.
The project is seen as is vital for developing solutions and reducing costs for future offshore wind power projects.
The Hywind Tampen project will be installed west Bergen and will supply electrical power to the nearby oil and gas platforms Gullfaks A, B, C and Snorre A and B. The combined effect from the 11 turbines will be 88MW and will replace about 35% the five platforms’ energy demand. Today, the energy required to run these platforms is supplied by gas turbines.
The project will reduce Norwegian CO2 emissions with more than 200,000 tonnes per year. In addition, analysis has shown that making the hulls of concrete will have a favourable CO2 footprint compared to several other solutions. Kvaerner plans to leverage Hywind Tampen to reduce the CO2 footprint further in concrete construction for future projects.
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“Kvaerner aims to contribute to sustainable and value creating solutions for the environment and society,” said Karl-Petter Løken, Kvaerner’s president and CEO. “It is vital that Norway does what is possible to reduce emissions, also within oil and gas production. When such improvements are combined with reducing the emissions from oil and gas consumption in each country around the globe, we progress towards the globally agreed climate objectives. The Hywind Tampen project paves the way for more wind power farms both in Norway and internationally. Today’s new contract is a very important step in Kvaerner’s strategy to grow within renewable business, in addition to our existing business within oil and gas.”
Kvaerner’s scope comprises engineering, procurement, and construction of the floating concrete hulls that will carry the wind turbines. In addition, Kvaerner`s contract includes delivery of the marine operations phase. This includes the full project management, engineering, assembly site management, mooring system installation, units tow-to-field and installation of the floating wind turbine units at the Tampen area. Marine operations will be performed as an integrated subcontract to the main contract, executed in a 50/50 joint venture between Kvaerner and DOF Subsea.
The initial phase of constructing the 11 concrete hulls will start in the drydock at Kvaerner’s specialised facility at Stord in Norway. The bottom sections will be floated to the site at Dommersnes in the Vindafjord where the construction will be completed. Finally, the wind turbines will be installed on top of the concrete hulls in Gulen, a bit further north. The project will start immediately and is due for completion during the autumn 2022. The project will involve about 250 man-years of work for Kvaerner employees.
“When Kvaerner is a main contractor to a project, we have many subcontractors and local society’s that benefit from our activities,” said Løken. “When we are now growing our business into renewable markets, we aim to build new industries and new value creation around us.”
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