L'8 Giugno 2009 a una decina di chilometri da Karmøy, nel sud-ovest della Norvegia, è stato posizionato il primo mulino eolico galleggiante di nuova generazione. Si tratta del progetto pilota Hywind che verrà ora testato per un periodo sperimentale di due anni.
Hywind è stato realizzato combinando la tecnologia di due settori molto diversi - quello eolico e quello del gas - applicata in un contesto cosiddetto offshore, cioè lontano dalla costa e in acque profonde.
Riporto qui di seguito, in Inglese, alcune caratteristiche dell'innovativo progetto:
The floating structure consists of a steel cylinder filled with a ballast of water and rocks. It extends 100 metres beneath the sea surface and is attached to the sea-bed by a three-point mooring spread.
The turbine itself was manufactured by Siemens. Technip built the floater and was responsible for the installation work offshore. Nexans Norway laid the submarine power line. This comes ashore near Skudeneshavn at the southern end of Karmøy, where local grid operator Haugaland Kraft operates a receiving station.
The primary intention is not to derive revenues from the power generated by Hywind, but to test how wind and waves affect the structure. Once these answers have been obtained, StatoilHydro can work on commercialising the concept. The goal is to reduce costs so that floating wind power can compete in the energy market.
The core expertise acquired by StatoilHydro as a leading operator of offshore oil and gas fields has played a very important part in the development of the Hywind concept.
This expertise, combined with the group's financial strength and innovative ability, puts StatoilHydro in a good position to develop this project.
Domanda: e da noi cosa si sta facendo?
