Per Lund, CEO of Odfjell Oceanwind and Jon Barratt Nysæther, Project Development Manager at Odfjell Oceanwind:

Norway is currently refining its policy framework on offshore wind, a topic where Odfjell Oceanwind has strong opinions. The below text is a translated version of a debate post recently published in the main business newspaper for the electricity sector in the Nordic countries, Europower, as a comment to the ongoing discussions.

Picture: Europower

The great paradox in de-carbonisation of oil and gas with floating wind

Is bigger really better? Will floating offshore wind work with 15MW turbines and larger? 

• UK and Norway have set ambitious targets for reducing emissions from their oil and gas activities  
• Both nations desire to develop their respective industries into global leaders in floating wind  
• Floating wind is a de-carbonisation solution that could deliver on the emission reduction targets 
• Tax incentives could be an effective fiscal tool to incentivise de-carbonisation projects  

With advancements in technology and engineering, and not least political interest, there are now a variety of different floating wind technologies being promoted, each with its own unique design and approach to capturing wind energy. These range from simple floating platforms attached to the seabed, to innovative designs such as semi-submersible and spar-buoy concepts. However, few if any of these designs have so far been proven in full scale for large wind turbine generators. Many of them only exist as computer rendered images at an early stage of development. The designs that have come furthest have begun to involve the classification societies.

• Oil and gas fields can to a large extent be electrified without power from shore
• Significant emission reductions can be realised with impact already in 2024
• This can lay the foundation for a large export industry based on offshore floating wind for Norway

• The UK and Norway have set ambitious emission reduction targets for 2030
• Offshore floating wind has been identified as the key tool to de-carbonise the oil and gas industry in both countries
• Policymakers must enable the floating offshore wind industry to deliver on these targets