GULLFAKS C PLATFORM, North Sea, Aug 23 (Reuters) – Norwegian power company Equinor (EQNR.OL) and its companions inaugurated the arena’s biggest floating offshore wind farm on Wednesday, whose output will provide within sight oil and gasoline platforms and reduce their greenhouse gasoline emissions.
The Hywind Tampen wind farm, the place Equinor is partnering with different oil companies together with OMV (OMVV.VI), Vaar Energi, majority-owned by way of ENI (ENI.MI), began generating energy in November remaining 12 months, with complete output reached previous this month.
Its 88 megawatts of capability will duvet round 35% of annual energy call for for 5 platforms on the Snorre and Gullfaks oil and gasoline fields within the North Sea, about 140 km (87 miles) off Norway’s west coast.
“We have now a transparent ambition in Norway with appreciate to CO2 emissions, to scale back them (by way of) 50% (by way of) 2030 … To do this we’d like energy,” Kjetil Hove, Equinor’s head of exploration and manufacturing in Norway, advised Reuters onboard the platform.
“It’s also about construction a brand new business this is going to be necessary to create extra energy in Norway.”
The Hywind Tampen wind farm is anticipated to scale back CO2 (CO2) emissions by way of 200,000 tonnes every year, or 0.4% of Norway’s overall CO2 emissions in 2022.
Some environmentalists say the transfer is certain because it brings down the rustic’s CO2 emissions, whilst others say Norway must as a substitute forestall generating oil and gasoline.
[1/5]Aerial view of the Hywind Tampen floating offshore wind farm, North Sea, on this handout got by way of Reuters on August 23, 2023. REUTERS/Oeyvind Gravaas/Equinor/Handout by the use of REUTERS Achieve Licensing Rights
Calling the outlet a “ancient day”, High Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere mentioned the initiative would assist Norway reduce its CO2 emissions and that rapidly preventing oil and gasoline was once no longer the answer within the power transition.
“The arena will proceed to wish gasoline and oil on this transitional section. This isn’t a cut-off from in the future to the opposite. So we need to minimise the footprint,” Stoere advised Reuters.
Hywind Tampen contains 11 wind generators mounted to a floating base this is anchored to the ocean ground, somewhat than mounted to the sea mattress, a brand new generation business professionals say is appropriate to be used in deeper waters offshore that Equinor hopes to increase.
The generation remains to be in its infancy and prices at Hywind Tampen have risen from an preliminary estimate of five.2 billion crowns ($491 million) in 2020, to 7.4 billion crowns, pushed by way of uncooked subject material delays, high quality problems, inflation, and foreign money results.
Nonetheless, an anticipated upward push in Norwegian CO2 taxation and better gasoline costs had a favorable impact at the undertaking’s financing, which additionally gained nearly 2.9 billion crowns in subsidies, Equinor mentioned.
Norway, which is focused on 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by way of 2040, which might double the rustic’s present energy output, is tendering its first business wind farms, together with 3 floating ones, this fall.
Equinor’s different companions at the undertaking are Wintershall Dea, majority-owned by way of BASF (BASFn.DE), INPEX Idemitsu (1605.T) and Norway’s Petoro.
($1 = 10.5859 Norwegian crowns)
Reporting by way of Nora Buli, enhancing by way of Gwladys Fouche, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Christina Fincher
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