Equinor has extended a contract with Island Offshore Shipholding LP for Island Clipper , a combined platform supply vessel (PSV) and walk-to-work (W2W) vessel, which has supported the company’s Oseberg oil and gas field in Norway and is scheduled to also work on the Hywind Tampen floating offshore wind farm.
The developer has extended the contract for the vessel for four years, along with awarding six contracts to five shipowners (including Island Offshore) for vessels that will support Equinor’s oil and gas activities on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The total value of the contracts is estimated at more than NOK 2.5 billion (approximately EUR 242 million) including options.
For Island Offshore, this marks the second contract for the Hywind Tampen floating wind farm as the company was awarded a contract for service operation vessel (SOV) services last year. That contract was signed for the walk-to-work vessel Island Diligence for a four-month period, plus options, starting in the second quarter of 2022.
The 11-turbine project, being built some 140 kilometers off the Norwegian coast, will be the world’s first floating wind farm to power offshore oil and gas platforms as it will be connected to the Snorre and Gullfaks offshore oil and gas platforms.
With a capacity of 94.6 MW, Hywind Tampen will also become the world’s largest floating wind farm, once it is up and running next year.
As the construction activities progress at the project site, the wind farm is expected to produce its first power by the end of this year.
Hywind Tampen will comprise 11 Siemens Gamesa 8.6 MW wind turbines installed on concrete SPAR-type floating foundations in water depths of between 260 and 300 metres.