Towering 65 meters above water with a rotor diameter of 80 meters, StatoilHydro’s planned Hywind offshore floating wind turbine – the first ever of its kind – will be impressive in size.
But few people will ever get the chance to admire it in its working life, as it will be towed to a location in the North Sea, 10 km from Karmøy. That is the whole point.
Since so much resistance to wind power has centred on concerns about aesthetics, the need for space and potential environmental concerns, much hope rests on the Hywind project, in which many of these issues are mitigated. There are a declining number of onshore and shallow-water sites available. In addition, there are some areas that have very limited or no shallow shelves to use, such as California, Japan and Norway.
The questions remaining are, ‘Can it be done?’ and more specifically, ‘At what cost?’
That remains to be found out, as the wind turbine is scheduled to run for a two-year trial period.
Worldwide interest
Ms Lycke believes that floating wind turbines can one day be an important source of cost-efficient renewable energy – with parks full of 100 meter tall turbines in oceans across the globe.
“We’ve had a lot of people calling us about the possibility of future offshore wind turbine parks in their countries,” says Ms Lycke.
A delegation from StatoilHydro recently accompanied the king of Norway on an official visit to Portugal, and learned about the innovative Portuguese programmes to support offshore wind development.
“We think this will be a new icon, symbolising our company’s technology, innovation and ability to look in new directions. It is opening up a whole new business area in the world,” she says of the NOK 400 million project. ”It’s easy for us to find partners – and that’s always a good sign”.
The power platform uses a floating structure known from the oil and gas industry, a technology that StatoilHydro has years of experience with secured with three anchors in waters from 100 to 700 meters deep. The sites available for offshore wind parks are thereby multiplied. Although the platform is full size, engineers have settled for a relatively small, conventional turbine.
“We want to test the concept, so we’re using a 2.3 MW Siemens turbine. It’s one
of the world’s most tested turbines, so we’re sure it will work properly,” says Ms Lycke.
A smaller scale model has been tested in a water tank at Marintek in Trondheim. Technip will deliver the sub surface floating element, and Nexans will lay the subsea cable to land. Engineers will be able to control the turbine remotely, adjusting the angle of the rotors in relation to wind and waves. All of the data will be recorded and used in the two-year research project. The electricity generated will be delivered to Haugaland Kraft.
“The interaction between the wind and waves will be exciting to see,” says Ms Lycke. “If it is as successful as we think it will be, there will be no reason why we shouldn’t decide to let it continue to produce electricity after two years have passed.”
The turbine is designed to have a lifespan of 25 years, but already StatoilHydro
is working with partners – among others, DNV – to see how the original design life can be extended.
StatoilHydro already operates an Arctic land-based wind turbine park at Havøygavlen in Finnmark, northern Norway, the world’s northernmost wind turbine park. The experience of operating the park for the past six years in harsh weather conditions, including extreme temperatures, has been invaluable. Havøygavlen is jointly owned with the Dutch company Nuon.
The European Union has stated that 20% of its energy should come from renewable sources by 2020. Ms Lycke thinks this will be a challenge. But some European countries, such as the UK, are investing large resources into making this happen. The UK is about to go ahead with a third licensing round for offshore fixed wind turbines, and StatoilHydro is intending to make a bid.
Political goodwill
Before offshore wind energy can really get going, politicians have to make some key decisions.
“There’s a lot of political goodwill in Norway for wind energy, and that’s important. The previous petroleum and energy minister did a good job of promoting Norway, and focusing on the possibilities for becoming a big exporter of renewable energy. But to develop offshore wind you need laws and regulations for it that we don’t have now. We have also asked for a licensing system similar to that used for the oil and gas industry, which would solve some of the usage conflicts,” she says.
The power generated from offshore wind turbines will be more expensive to produce than the current market price.
Ms Lycke expects that state subsidies will be needed to support the greener energy, but how much remains to be seen. If wind parks are built in four North Sea blocks, she says, the energy generated will equal the production from the Ormen Lange field, which produces 22 BCM. That is equal to 20% of the UK’s natural gas consumption. Hydro had 10 years of experience with wind energy before the merger with Statoil.
“Wind energy has really been supported in the new company,” says Ms Lycke. “There’s a real focus on technology and innovation here, and this fits in very well. The combination of Statoil and Hydro has made us stronger in renewable energy. We have a broader portfolio and a more pronounced focus on technology. Our main focus areas are CO2 management, renewable power production and sustainable biofuel.”
StatoilHydro takes part in a wave energy project where three floating test devices off the coast of Portugal use pressure from wave movements to generate electricity. Also, an underwater turbine that harvests tidal energy has been running in Finnmark, north of Norway for five years with good results – owned by Hammerfest Strøm AS where StatoilHydro is main shareholder.
“Commercially, that’s very interesting, since the tide is moving all the time. It’s
a lot easier to sell into the electricity grid, when it’s a stable production,” says Ms Lycke.
How Hywind began
Hywind is a new concept for producing wind power offshore in deep waters. Hydro’s Dag Christensen got the idea when observing a buoy during a sailing regatta in 2001. “If we make that 100 meters tall instead of four, then we could have a windmill tower,” he thought to himself. He discussed the idea with his colleague Knut Solberg, and they drew a sketch on a serviette. He realised that Norway could be a major producer of wind power after calculating that one windmill per km2 in an area of the North Sea of 70 km by 70 km would double the nation’s electricity production. Since 2001 the project has been through various research phases. StatoilHydro announced earlier this year that it will build the world’s first full-scale floating windmill, to be installed in the North Sea outside of Karmøy in the autumn of 2009.
Date: 22 December 2008