Equinor has entered into a long-term partnership agreement with Wergeland Group as the preferred supplier for the fabrication and installation of floating offshore wind foundations and turbines.
The facilities at Wergeland Base gives Equinor access to an area that can serve as a floating offshore wind factory on the Norwegian continental shelf.
The agreement will promote the further development of the Norwegian offshore wind supplier industry, help provide local value creation and social development, and contribute to safe and cost-effective offshore wind element mass production, said Equinor.
“This agreement is highly important for the industrial development of floating offshore wind in Norway.
“The agreement will promote further development of the Norwegian supplier industry in offshore wind and will also bring local value creation and social development.
“We’re very pleased to contribute to expertise development and jobs along the Norwegian coast, and we look forward to further cooperation with Wergeland Group in concrete projects in the years ahead,” said Siri Espedal Kindem, senior vice president for the Renewables Norway cluster.
The first project for the cooperation with Wergeland will be the Utsira North project for Equinor and Vårgrønn, which is scheduled to be awarded during the year.
Equinor and Vårgrønn confirmed the plan is to use a concrete floater based on a spar-type design in the Utsira Nord project.
The cooperation with Wergeland facilitates the refinement of a strong local supplier chain and means that the concrete foundations for the project on Utsira North will be produced in Norway.