World's Biggest Floating Wind Farm Now Onstream

Norwegian energy firm Equinor said Hywind Tampen’s first wind turbine started generating electricity on Sunday afternoon, Anmar Frangoul reported for CNBC.

Photo Insert: Hywind Tampen is located around 140 kilometers (86.9 miles) off the coast of Norway, in depths ranging from 260 to 300 meters.

Seven of the wind farm’s turbines are slated to come on stream in 2022, with the installation of the remaining four taking place in 2023. While wind is a renewable energy source, Hywind Tampen will be used to help power operations at oil and gas fields in the North Sea.

A facility described as the world’s largest floating wind farm produced its first power over the weekend, with more turbines set to come online before the year is out. Equinor said Hywind Tampen’s first power output was sent to the Gullfaks oil and gas field.

“I am proud that we have now started production at Hywind Tampen, Norway’s first and the world’s largest floating wind farm,” Geir Tungesvik, Equinor’s executive vice president for projects, drilling and procurement, said.

“This is a unique project, the first wind farm in the world powering producing oil and gas installations.”

Hywind Tampen is located around 140 kilometers (86.9 miles) off the coast of Norway, in depths ranging from 260 to 300 meters. Seven of the wind farm’s turbines are slated to come on stream in 2022, with the installation of the remaining four taking place in 2023.

When complete, Equinor says it will have a system capacity of 88 megawatts. Aside from Equinor, the other companies involved in the project are Vår Energi, INPEX Idemitsu, Petoro, Wintershall Dea, and OMV.

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