Norway-based StatoilHydro will build the first full-scale floating wind turbine, Hywind, and test it off the coast of Norway near Karmoy for two years.
HyWind, a 2.3 MW floating wind turbine is attached to the top of a Spar-buoy, a solution used in production platforms and offshore loading buoys.
‘If we succeed, then we will have taken a major step in moving the wind power industry offshore,’ says Alexandra Bech Gjorv, head of new energy at StatoilHydro. ‘We have drawn on our offshore expertise from the oil and gas industry to develop wind power offshore.’
The rotor blades on the floating wind turbine will have a diameter of 80 meters (m), and the nacelle will stand approximately 65 m above the sea surface. The floatation element will have a draft of about 100 m below the sea surface, and will be moored to the seabed using three anchor points. The wind turbine can be located in waters with depths ranging from 120 m to 700 m.
The wind turbine itself is to be built by Siemens. Technip will build the floatation element and have responsibility for the installation offshore. Nexans will lay cables to shore, and Haugaland Kraft will be responsible for the landfall. Enova is supporting the project with 59 million Norwegian krone (NOK). StatoilHydro is allocating more than 400 million NOK to build and develop the pilot as well as research and develop the wind turbine concept.
SOURCE: StatoilHydro
