Offshore Wind market surging ahead
At the Offshore Wind Conference: Science Meets Industry in Kristiansand this week, some 50 companies and organizations met to learn and share knowledge about offshore wind. Participants discussed business opportunities and technology transfer from oil and gas to offshore renewables.
NORWEP’s market report forecasts 19% annual growth for offshore wind in the next five years – from 18 GW in 2017 to 61 GW in 2023. By 2022, offshore wind is expected to represent 27% of all offshore investments, up from just 4% in 2013.
An increasing number of floating wind projects in the pipeline. The largest – by far – is Equinor’s Hywind Tampen, which could be operational in 2022. Equinor’s idea is to build a floating wind farm consisting of 11 wind turbines capable of producing electricity for use on Snorre and Gullfaks installations on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. This could be the first time an offshore wind farm is directly connected to oil and gas platforms. Equinor has gained valuable data from its pilot wind farm, Hywind Scotland, which became operational in 2017.
“The main objective is to create a meeting point for science and industry interested in offshore wind. Several NODE companies got to showcase their technology and competence. Now, they need to partner up with the right people and companies to take part in this fast-growing market,” says Marianne Engvoll, Project Manager for GCE NODE.