Pilot Project to Explore Floating Offshore Wind Potential at Goliat

Vår Energi, Odfjell Oceanwind and Source Galileo have joined forces on a pilot project that would see the development of floating offshore wind at the Goliat platform.

The platform is currently electrified and is supplied with power from shore through a power cable with a capacity of 75 MW. The pilot project, called GoliatVind, would see the use of the cable to provide electricity to the mainland, increasing renewable power generation in Finnmark, a statement by Vår Energi reads.

The project is currently in an early phase, and multiple factors are being studied before a concept selection and a development decision can be made. This covers regulatory framework conditions, including incentives and a development license from the authorities, Vår Energi said.

The preliminary plan is to build three to five floating wind turbines at Goliat, each with a capacity of 15 MW. Current operations on Goliat require about 50 MW. Regardless of the scope, the project can increase overall power generation in the Hammerfest region.

“The Government has decided that all parts of society must be electrified to reach Norway’s climate targets. This requires the development of new renewable power generation. Vår Energi is exploring opportunities to make the power cable and necessary capacity on the platform available precisely to contribute to this. Odfjell Oceanwind and Source Galileo will be the developer and owner. Vår Energi has no plans to enter into commercial or operational commitments in the wind park,” Vegard Bruaset, Vår Energi’s VP Barents Sea Area, explains.

One important prerequisite for the project to succeed is good coexistence with fisheries interests in the region and that the connection to Goliat does not entail an operational risk for production on the installation, Vår Energi noted. Dialogue with relevant fisheries organizations and technical studies on Goliat have therefore been initiated, the company added.  

Goliat, operated by Vår Energi with Equinor as partner, came on stream in 2016 and has been supplied with power from shore since the start. This reduces CO2 emissions by 300,000 tons annually, the equivalent of emissions from 100,000 cars, Vår Energi highlighted.

The company aims to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions from its own production (scope 1) by 50 per cent by 2030, compared with the 2005 level.

Vår Energi has also recently confirmed a discovery of oil in the operated 7122/8-1S Countach well in production license PL229 (Goliat), northwest of Hammerfest, including updated volume estimates.

The well was drilled in one of the segments that form the Countach prospect. Preliminary estimates place the size of the discovery in the tested segment between 3-13 million bbls of total recoverable oil equivalents. The potential of the Countach prospect, in the undrilled segments, is estimated at up to 23 million bbls of total recoverable oil equivalents, the company noted.

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