Equinor has designed a new concept with a preferred foundation design for full-scale gigawatt commercial floating offshore wind, if successful in ScotWind.
Named the Wind Semi, a semisubmersible wind turbine foundation has been designed to allow for fabrication and assembly based on local supply chain capabilities. The foundation is said to have several features that make it particularly suited for harsh waters. With a harbour draught of less than 10 m, the Wind Semi’s turbine integration can be assembled at most industrialised ports and can either be fabricated locally or shipped from other locations.
Equinor installed the first ever floating offshore wind turbine in 2009, and operates the 30 MW Hywind Scotland, the world’s first floating wind farm, which began production in 2017.
“We plan to develop GW-size floating projects in one single phase. Implementing large scale projects will accelerate Scotland’s energy transition to net zero. At 1GW, this project would be over 30 times bigger than Hywind Scotland but also create opportunities for both existing suppliers and new entrants to the offshore wind sector,” said Sonja C. Indrebø, Equinor’s vice president of floating offshore wind.
