Cable Connected: Bourbon Completes Installation of TetraSpar Floater in Norway

Bourbon Subsea Services has completed the offshore installation of the 3,6 MW TetraSpar Demonstrator Floating Wind Turbine at Metcentre Test site in Norway, by laying and connecting the power cable earlier this week.

The TetraSpar Demo project is being developed by Stiesdal Offshore Technology, TEPCO Renewable Power, Shell, and RWE.

The TetraSpar floating wind foundation fitted with a 3.6MW wind turbine arrived at the Marine Energy Test Centre, near Stavanger, southeast Norway in July.

According to Bourbon, following the completion of the power cable laying and connection, the floating wind turbine will be commissioned in the coming weeks. 

"Each new technology needs creativity and innovation to mitigate risks and deliver in time. This project was a challenge, and we are very proud to have taken it up for TetraSpar Demonstrator ApS, a joint company between Shell, RWE, Tepco and Stiesdal. As an international company based in France, we are now looking forward to the pre-industrial floating wind farms particularly in France, UK, Portugal, Spain, Norway, Japan and South Korea.” said Patrick Belenfant, CEO of Bourbon Subsea Services.

The TetraSpar foundation concept is the modular “building block” arrangement: each foundation is assembled from tubular steel modules, most of which are common to all configurations. Manufacturing takes place in factories using industrialized methods, and their assembly near the site as well as towing are measured in days or weeks, instead of months, Bourbon has said in one of its previous statements.

TetraSpar Demonstrator is also notable for its stability, which is provided by a keel deployed 50 meters below the floater.

According to World Energy Reports, the global floating wind installed capacity will reach between 8 to 10 GW by the end of this decade, and next decade WER expects to see more than 60GW of floating wind farms commissioned.

Credit: Bourbon Subsea Services