Kansai joins floating offshore wind project in Norway
Source Galileo and Odfjell Oceanwind are collaborating with Vår Energi on a floating offshore wind project at the Goliat platform outside Hammerfest in Norway. The partnership has now been further strengthened with Japanese Utility, the Kansai Electric Power Company Inc., joining the team.
The offshore wind park will be connected to the Goliat platform, utilising the existing power cable to shore. The purpose of the project is to demonstrate floating offshore wind technology in Norway, as well as increased production of renewable energy in a region that has a large and growing need of electricity.
“Everything is in place for GoliatVIND, and the project does not require any new major interventions on land. Such electrification projects with offshore wind will accelerate the development of Norwegian supply chains and develop an export industry. It will make us ready for larger developments of floating offshore wind, such as Utsira Nord in 2030,” said Gunnar Birkeland, CEO of Source Galileo Norge.
“Having Kansai join the team is really great. Their operational expertise and financial strength will help us accelerate floating offshore wind in Norway.
Kansai is Japan’s leading energy company. Kansai’s T&D company has one of the longest experiences in operating high-voltage grids, approximately 19 000 km length of transmission line in Japan. Also, Kansai is a major global investor in renewable energy and offshore wind. Kansai has a turnover of around NOK 300 billion a year, is listed on the Japanese stock exchange, and the Norwegian Pension Fund owns 71% of the company.
Kansai is now part of the existing GoliatVIND consortium, with Source Galileo and Odfjell Oceanwind. Kansai’s role is to contribute actively with their expertise and technical competence within interfaces and high-voltage systems, as well as their experience with procurement and financial planning. The company is already involved in the Utsira Nord application, together with Source Galileo, Odfjell Oceanwind and Ingka Investments – IKEA’s investment arm. Kansai dispatches three engineers and one commercial specialist from Osaka who will join Source Galileo Norway’s head office in Haugesund.
“This demonstration project is ideally placed to position Kansai to bring the technical knowledge and experience obtained back to the Japanese market. We are excited to further develop our collaboration with Source Galileo and Odfjell Oceanwind, and look forward to working together at GoliatVIND to make the project possible,” added Seigo Yagi, General Manager of Kansai.
Odfjell Oceanwind has matured technology and solutions for floating offshore wind that are also qualified for the rough conditions in the Barents Sea. The solutions to be demonstrated at GoliatVIND are standardised and can be used in practically all places in the world that are suitable for floating offshore wind, not least in Ja-pan.
“The reason why GoliatVIND is so important is the potential to export the technology internationally. Today, we are most familiar with bottom-fixed offshore wind from the UK and Germany in particular, but estimates show that only 20 percent of the world’s exploitable offshore wind resources are suitable for this technology. This means that 80% is at a depth that requires floating offshore wind. Here, Norway and Norwegian industry, with our long and windy coast and maritime expertise, are in an ideal position to become global technology leaders. This could form the basis for a large export industry,” explained Per Lund, CEO of Odfjell Oceanwind.
An important prerequisite for the project to be successful is good coexistence with the fishing interests in the region and that the connection to Goliat does not entail an operational risk for production on the installation. Therefore, there has been continuous dialogue with relevant fisheries organisations since the start of the project, and technical studies are being carried out on Goliat.
Goliatvind AS received a letter from the Ministry of Oil and Energy (OED) on 28 November asking for the submission of a plan for a project-specific assessment programme. A notification including program for EIA was sent to OED 29 November 2023.
The impact assessment for GoliatVIND will be based on existing information about natural resources and environmental consequences, including the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate’s impact assessments for offshore wind. The impact assessment carried out for the Goliat platform in 2008, as well as the environmental follow-up in 2016, will have transfer value to the impact assessment for GoliatVIND.
“This area is already well mapped. It is an area with installations and an already existing infrastructure for both the network and cable to land. The impact assessment can be based on already existing data, but where we must also close knowledge gaps,” concluded Birkeland.
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