His Majesty Crown Prince Haakon and Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre officially opened the Hywind Tampen floating offshore wind farm today. Hywind Tampen is not only the largest floating offshore wind farm in the world, but also represents Norway’s first venture into offshore wind energy.
It is located approximately 140 kilometres off the Norwegian coast and consists of 11 floating wind turbines which will provide 35% of the power needed by the five Snorre and Gullfaks platforms, in the North Sea. Speaking during the inauguration, Prime Minister Støre emphasidsed the historical significance of the moment. “Today, we are writing history. We are transitioning into a new age of energy where oil and gas consumption will decline, while the role of sea, wind, and solar energy will rise. Norway leads this transition, drawing on expertise from professionals who have been in this sector since the 1970s. This is the path forward,” he remarked.
Although the project is a modest contribution in the grander scheme of things, it plays a crucial role. According to Equinor, the company behind the venture, Hywind Tampen will result in annual emissions reductions of 200,000 tons of CO₂ and 1,000 tons of NOx. In simpler terms, this amounts to eliminating the pollution equivalent of 100,000 fossil-fuel cars.
“Hywind Tampen is enormously important to Norway’s leading position at the forefront of floating offshore wind,” says NorthWind director John Olav Tande.
Hywind Tampen started production in November of last year but only became fully operational in the recent weeks.
