For two years, the turbine will serve as a fully functional and operating energy producing entity, with room for offshore wind suppliers to run tests.
“It will be a place to develop and prove technology,” says Kjell Rune Nakkestad, Project Manager at Amon, which is the company behind the offshore wind demo. Amon was established in 2014 to produce concrete foundations for offshore wind.
“Building on competence and technology from the oil and gas industry, we are constructing a concrete deep-water structure – using knowledge about Condeep – and adapting it for offshore wind. Our vision is to establish the most cost-effective offshore wind foundation and installation factory,” says Nakkestad.
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The foundation is a gravity-based structure for oil platforms invented in Norway for more than 50 years ago. The base of the foundations rest on the sea floor, while the shaft rises several meters above the sea level, on which a platform or, as in this case, a wind turbine is placed.
To test and prove its technology, Amon has obtained permission to put its demo construction in the 37 meters deep water 4 to 5 kilometers off the coast of Flekkefjord. The estimated project cost is in excess of NOK 400 million.
The base of the concrete structure will have a diameter of 56 to 60 meters. The shaft, which will have a diameter of 6 to 8 meters, will extend 15 meters out of the sea and have a 10 MW wind turbine on top. The turbine will produce electricity during the two-year test period and then permanently from 2028.
“If successful, our intention is to build a factory for construction of 50 such foundations for bottom-fixed offshore wind yearly,” says Nakkestad.
Amon’s foundations allow for the wind turbine to be installed in a port before it is towed to its location and lowered to the bottom of the ocean.
Installation is estimated to be three times faster than when using monopile foundations. For major maintenance work, the entire installation can be raised and towed ashore. This allows for quicker, cheaper and safer operations,” says Nakkestad.
Amon has agreements with three major suppliers for its demo project: Backe (formerly known as Kruse Smith) for concrete, Einar Øgrey Farsund for electromechanics, and Farmar for marine operations.
The development of the concrete foundation has so far received support from Innovation Norway and Sørlandets Kompetansefond. Amon is very focused on getting support from ENOVA for the construction of the full-scale demo.
