New Japanese player buys into Norwegian floating wind plan to power oil platform
GoliatVIND project will connect to the Norwegian grid through an offshore oil platform that has already gone through an electrification process for its power supply
Japan’s ENEOS Renewable Energy (ERE) has acquired a 20% stake in GoliatVIND, a 75MW floating wind demonstration project that will be located in Norwegian waters on the border between the North Sea and Barents Sea.
Parent company ENEOS Holdings has ambitions of playing a role in establishing renewable energy as Japan’s main source of power and is looking to build up experience and expertise in floating wind through its ENEOS Renewable Energy (ERE) subsidiary.
The 20% stake will be acquired from Odfjell Oceanwind, leaving the Norwegian company with a 20% interest, alongside renewables group Source Galileo Norge (40%) and Japanese utility Kansai Electric Power (20%).
GoliatVIND will feature five 15MW floating offshore wind turbines and connect to the Norwegian grid in the Hammerfest region. It will do so via a connection to the Goliat FPSO, a floating offshore oil platform.
The Goliat FPSO is already supplied with power from shore through a high-voltage cable as part of the ongoing efforts by Norwegian oil producers to reduce operational emissions by reducing offshore power generation by gas-fired turbines.
The GoliatVind project is located at a water depth of 400 metres and has already selected Odfjell Oceanwind’s own semisubmersible foundation technology called Deepsea Star.
Onshore grid reservation is already in place with system operators Statnett and Lucerna and Odfjell Oceanwnd said the project will use a supply chain matured by the company over several years.
GoliatVIND received a grant of 2bn NKr ($185m) from the Norwegian state enterprise ENOVA SF earlier this year, under a program aiming at demonstrating and reducing costs of floating offshore wind.
“Adding ERE to the partnership further strengthens our capabilities to develop and realise the project,” said Per Lund, CEO of Odfjell Oceanwind.
“We are particularly honoured that another Japanese company has chosen to invest into one of our projects, following the Kansai Electric Power and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) investments during the last year. ERE is another high quality, global and industrial company which complements our existing partner base and further demonstrates the relevance of our projects and capabilities in the global floating offshore wind market.”
The cable that presently brings power to the Goliat FPSO from shore has a capacity of 75MW and GoliatVIND is planned with the same capacity.
The floating wind turbines will be placed 5-11 kilometres from the Goliat platform, following consultation with fishing interests, according to Odfjell Oceanwind.
“The (GoliatVIND) park is planned to be in operation in 2028, depending on how the licensing process is laid out by the Ministry of Oil and Energy. In this way, the experience can be used in Norway's future floating offshore wind investment, including at Utsira Nord,” Odfjell Oceanwind stated.
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