Equinor, partners eye 1-GW floating wind farm to power Norwegian oilfields

Norwegian energy group Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) and its partners in the Troll and Oseberg oil and gas fields in the North Sea are considering the construction of a 1-GW floating wind farm in the area off western Norway.

The project, named Trollvind, could lead to the production of roughly 4.3 TWh of electricity per year, Equinor said on Friday. Its partners in the initiative will be French multi-energy group TotalEnergies SE (EPA:TTE), British oil giant Shell Plc (LON:SHEL), US peer ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) and Petoro, Norway's state-owned exploration and production licenses manager.

The tie-up has kicked off a study to explore alternatives for installing the proposed offshore wind farm within an area located 65 km (40.4 miles) off Bergen. The idea is to buy the whole output of the future complex so as to supply electricity to the Troll and Oseberg fields, to be done through an onshore connection point. Any surplus power could be delivered to the Bergen region.

It is estimated that the proposed wind park can deliver electricity for less than NOK 1 (USD 0.100/EUR 0.095) per kWh.

After completing the feasibility studies, the partnership will seek to take an investment decision in 2023 and possibly bring the plant online in 2027.

The project is planned to be realised to comply with the increased emission reduction targets for operations within the Norwegian continental shelf to 50% by 2030, from 40% previously.

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