Equinor and the Snorre and Gullfaks partners have made a final investment decision for the Hywind Tampen offshore wind farm development. Today, two updated plans for development and operation will be submitted to Norwegian authorities.
The oil and gas platforms will be the first ever powered by a floating offshore wind farm. The wind farm will be located some 140 kilometres from shore in 260-300 metres of water between the Snorre and Gullfaks platforms.

“We have been systematically maturing technologies for floating offshore wind for almost 20 years. The decision by the Snorre and Gullfaks partners helps bring this technology an important step forward. About 80 % of the global resource potential for offshore wind is in deep waters, and floating offshore wind may play an important part in the energy transition towards more sustainable global energy supply. This brings substantial opportunities for Norwegian industry,” says Eldar Sætre, chief executive officer of Equinor.

The Hywind Tampen investments will total almost NOK 5 billion. Norwegian authorities through Enova have made a funding commitment of up to NOK 2.3 billion for the Hywind Tampen project. In addition, the Business Sector’s NOx Fund has decided to support the project by up to NOK 566 million.

The wind farm will consist of 11 wind turbines based on the Hywind technology developed by Equinor. The 8 MW turbines will have a total capacity of 88 MW, capable of meeting about 35 percent of the annual power demand of the five Snorre A and B, Gullfaks A, B and C platforms.