Equinor and BP Sanction $6bn Floating Wind Project Off Norway
The joint venture marks the largest floating offshore wind investment to date, with first power expected by 2030 and capacity sufficient to power over one million homes.
Equinor and BP have taken a final investment decision on a $6 billion floating offshore wind project off the Norwegian coast, marking the largest single investment in floating wind technology to date and a significant milestone for the commercialisation of the sector.
The project, named Havvind Nord, will comprise 50 floating wind turbines with a combined capacity of 750 megawatts, sufficient to power approximately 1.1 million Norwegian homes. First power is expected in 2030, with full capacity reached by 2031.
The investment decision follows a two-year front-end engineering and design phase and the successful completion of a 12-month environmental impact assessment. The project secured a 15-year power purchase agreement with the Norwegian state energy company at a strike price of NOK 0.82 per kilowatt-hour.
Equinor, which holds a 60% stake in the joint venture, said the project would leverage lessons learned from its Hywind Scotland and Hywind Tampen projects to deliver a step-change reduction in the levelised cost of floating wind energy. The company expects the project to achieve a levelised cost of approximately $85 per megawatt-hour at first power.
The announcement has been welcomed by the Norwegian government, which has set a target of 30GW of offshore wind capacity by 2040. The Havvind Nord project is expected to catalyse further investment in the Norwegian floating wind sector, with several additional projects currently in the development pipeline.