At least 800 will work on the project. Today was the starting shot. – E24

On Thursday afternoon the hall of the Kvaerner shipyard in Stord is full of people.

Business leaders, the prime minister, the mayor of Stord, employees, high school students and the press have appeared.

Together with Kvaerner apprentice Arne Linga, Erna Solberg starts up the cutting robot that marks the start of construction on Hywind Tampen, the world’s largest floating wind farm.

Kvaerner will design and produce eleven floating concrete hulls for the turbines.

– This is a very important technological project, first of all, Solberg tells Bergens Tidende later.

He points out that the offshore wind farm reduces CO emissions on the platform and contributes to other energy sources.

– It will reduce costs so that we can move forward with floating wind energy as a possible new technology that we can live off in the future.

You want more projects

Everyone who spoke on stage this afternoon describes the start of construction by Hywind Tampen as historic. The offshore wind farm is known as the beginning of a new industrial adventure.

– Hywind Tampen is of great importance, but we need more projects in the future, and it is positive that more area has been opened for offshore wind power on the Norwegian shelf, says Karl-Petter Løken.

He is currently CEO of Kvaerner, but when the company merges with Aker Solutions in November, he will be responsible for the renewable investment.

– Our goal is for a third of our turnover to come from renewable energy by 2025, up to two-thirds by 2030, says Løken.

Kvaerner’s contract with Equinor for Hywind Tampen is worth NOK 1.5 billion.

– If you look exclusively at Kvaerner, the contract uses 250 man-years. If we include domino effects, we estimate the number to be 800 man-years, says the CEO.

Løken points out that the market for offshore wind is growing rapidly.

– We believe that we have experience that is transferable from the oil and gas industry. We see that a large part of the turnover can come from that segment, he says.

• Danish energy company Ørsted has taken a green U-turn. Are there Norwegian companies that can do the same? That’s the theme of this episode of What We Live By. Get the podcast here:

Must supply energy to fields

In April this year, the Norwegian authorities approved Hywind Tampen.

In total, it is estimated that the construction of the floating offshore wind farm will cost five billion. Government Enova contributes 2,300 million, Næringslivets NOx-fund with up to 566 million.

Kvaerner is one of the many companies that have been awarded a contract in relation to the offshore wind farm.

Today, field operations at Snorre and Gullfaks run on gas. But not all of this will be replaced by offshore wind power. Wind production will depend on how much you blow. It is estimated that the offshore wind farm will be able to deliver around 35 percent of the energy demand on the five platforms it will supply.

This will lead to emission reductions of more than 200,000 tons of CO₂ per year, which is equivalent to the emissions of 100,000 passenger cars, according to Equinor.

Increased competition

Outgoing Equinor leader Eldar Sætre says Hywind Tampen is an important project due to the great potential of offshore wind power.

– We estimate that 80 percent of the resources to be extracted from offshore wind must come from floating offshore wind, he says.

He says that today they are world leaders in floating offshore wind, but that competition is increasing rapidly.

– Here you have to be sharp all the time, says Sætre.

It shows that Equinor started a decade ago with a floating wind turbine on the outskirts of Karmøy. They also have five floating wind turbines in a park in Scotland.

Hywind Tampen will consist of eleven turbines.

– So this is incredibly important in terms of scaling, he emphasizes.

Must reduce costs

Compared to the project in Scotland, they have cut costs by 40 percent, but costs need to be lowered further, Sætre says.

– I think we have to go down to 40-60 øre for. kilowatt hours by 2030. We will need support in one form or another for some time to come, but we are already looking for robust solutions that in some markets can stand on their own without subsidies, and that is also the goal.

Prime Minister Erna Solberg will say nothing about how much they will invest in offshore wind in the state budget.