MEMBER NEWS: Equinor unveils ScotWind floating foundation design

November 8, 2021
MEMBER NEWS: Equinor unveils ScotWind floating foundation design

Courtesy of Energy Voice.

Norwegian energy giant Equinor has unveiled the floating wind foundation design it will use if its successful in ScotWind.

The Wind Semi concept will enable industrial standardisation and maximise opportunities for local supply chains, the company said.

It has been designed with flexibility, specifically to allow for fabrication and assembly based on capabilities in specific areas.

If Equinor secures seabed acreage through the ScotWind offshore leasing round, it will implement the technology as part of its plans for a 1 gigawatt (GW) floating wind farm.

Sonja Indrebø, Equinor’s vice president of floating offshore wind, said: “We are ready to develop the next generation, large-scale commercial floating offshore wind in Scotland.

“By leveraging our twenty years of floating offshore wind experience and innovations, we plan to develop GW-size floating projects in one single phase. Implementing large scale projects will accelerate Scotland’s energy transition to net zero.

“At 1GW, this project would be over 30 times bigger than Hywind Scotland, the UK’s and Equinor’s first floating project and have the potential to not only position Scotland as a leader in deep water technology, but also create opportunities for both existing suppliers and new entrants to the offshore wind sector.”

To ensure that the technology can be deployed cost effectively whilst maximising local benefits, Equinor has developed a set of design principles and solutions that are applicable across floating concepts.

Equinor installed the first ever floating offshore wind turbine in 2009, and operates Hywind Scotland (30 MW), the world’s first floating wind farm, off the coast of Peterhead.

Since it began production in 2017, the development has consistently achieved a higher capacity factor than other UK wind farms.

Ms Indrebø said: “Hywind Scotland proved that the floating concept works, and as we move to the next generation floating offshore wind projects, we need to demonstrate that floating offshore wind is deployable at scale, in different geographies cost effectively whilst bringing local benefits.

“We have seen the journey of fixed bottom offshore wind, and combined with our long experience in floating, we can take learnings into account as we design and innovate the concepts for full-scale GW floating wind farms.”

The Wind Semi has several features making it “particularly suited for harsh waters”, and solutions that can maximise the opportunities for the Scottish supply chain.

That includes increased dependability, a simpler, more robust design and an ability to be assembled at most industrialised ports.

Indrebø added: “Scotland can be in the forefront of this exciting technology. We asked ourselves how we can achieve industrial standardisation and maximise local content opportunities to create additional and sustainable long-term value from floating offshore wind projects. With a design-based approach we’ve used our experience and gone right back to basics to incorporate this focus in the initial concept design.”

Read the article on the Energy Voice website here.

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AREG is the original energy transition organisation, working on behalf of members to empower the energy supply chain and champion its expertise. Please get in touch if you have any questions or would like to find out more about membership.

AREG has played an important role in the growth of Scotland’s renewable energy sector, engaging the supply chain and developing the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre. However, we are only at the very beginning of the transition that AREG was established to both lead and support so there are still opportunities for companies to get into the constantly evolving renewables supply chain. We look forward to continuing our work together as renewables builds on its place as Scotland’s main source of power, and as we seek to deliver real change in the crucial areas of heat and transport.

Scottish Renewables

Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce has worked closely with AREG since its formation. The recent progress in the developments of offshore wind projects by Equinor and Vattenfall are as a result of the work of the group over many years. The north-east is known as the oil and gas capital of Europe. At the Chamber, we believe the region must evolve its position to being recognised as the energy capital. Whilst hydrocarbons will continue to be essential in driving our economy for years to come, the generation of renewable resources will play an increasingly important role in providing cost-effective power, innovative development and economic growth.

Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce

The enthusiasm and dedication of the early group that would become AREG was fundamental in us choosing to launch All-Energy in Aberdeen. The first tiny show was held in 2001, and AREG’s Chairman at the time, Jeremy Cresswell, played such an active role that I often describe him in terms such as All-Energy’s ‘midwife’. All-Energy is now the UK’s largest renewable and low carbon energy exhibition and conference in terms of number of attendees, space booked, and number of exhibiting companies. As AREG became firmly established, their presence and support for the event grew spectacularly over the years. We thank them most sincerely for their invaluable input.

All-Energy

Vattenfall has forged a strong working relationship with AREG through the development of the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre. AREG has worked tirelessly on behalf of the North East and it can take enormous credit for the growth of sustainable energy in the region and the path it has cleared for the region to capture further investment.

Vattenfall

Aberdeen City and Shire is emerging as a key location for renewables by successfully transferring its world-class oil and gas expertise into the sector and AREG has done much to advance this through a broad range of initiatives. It has acted as a catalyst in driving further investment in the local economy by engaging with companies, Government, public bodies and existing projects and we have been pleased to support their efforts. Scottish Enterprise will continue to engage with AREG as we increase Scotland’s use of renewable energy.

Scottish Enterprise