Recently, French multi-energy group TotalEnergies SE announced the launch of a pilot project to install a 3-MW floating wind turbine near the Culzean offshore platform in the UK North Sea.
Pilot 3-MW floating wind turbine at the Culzean offshore gas platform in the UK North Sea - illustration. Image source: TotalEnergies (handout)
The turbine will be located 220 kilometres (136.7 miles) off the eastern coast of Scotland and 2 kilometres west of the platform of the Culzean’s gas facility, which is part-owned by TotalEnergies.
The pilot project was selected in Crown Estate Scotland’s Innovation and Targeted Oil & Gas (INTOG) leasing round in March 2023 as one of the winning solutions to decarbonise the power supply of offshore oil and gas platforms in the North Sea.
Culzean’s turbine will be installed on a lightweight, modular semi-submersible floater hull designed by Ocergy. Expected to be operational by the end of 2025, the turbine will provide around 20% of the platform's electricity needs.
The project aims to demonstrate the feasibility of hybrid power generation by combining renewable electricity from the wind turbine with existing electricity production from gas turbines, as well as qualify a floater design for the future of floating offshore wind, according Marie-Noelle Semeria, Chief Technology Officer at TotalEnergies.
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