The leading Japanese renewable energy company, ENEOS Renewable Energy (ERE) becomes a partner in the GoliatVIND project with a 20% interest, by acquiring a 20% shareholding in the project from Odfjell Oceanwind. With an aim of establishing renewable energy as Japan’s main source of power to achieve the country’s 2050 carbon neutral goal, ERE is the renewable arm of the Japanese energy giant ENEOS Holdings, Inc (formerly JXTG Holdings, Inc.). ERE develops diversified renewable energy sources, including solar, onshore and offshore wind, biomass, and hydropower. The new partnership on GoliatVIND is Source Galileo Norge (40%), Odfjell Oceanwind (20%), Kansai Electric Power (20%) and ERE (20%).
GoliatVIND is a 75 MW (5 x 15MW) demonstration project for floating offshore wind with grid connection via the Goliat FPSO to the Hammerfest region and with onshore grid reservation in place with Statnett and Lucerna. The project is located at 400 meters water depth on the border between the northern Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea, has selected Odfjell Oceanwind’s Deepsea Star™ semisubmersible foundation technology and will use a supply chain matured by Odfjell Oceanwind over several years. GoliatVIND received a grant of 2 billion NOK (185 million USD) from the Norwegian state enterprise ENOVA SF earlier this year, under a program aiming at demonstrating and reducing costs of floating offshore wind.
“We are pleased to welcome ERE as a key partner in the GoliatVIND project”, CEO of Odfjell Oceanwind Per Lund says. “Adding ERE to the partnership further strengthens our capabilities to develop and realise the project. We are particularly honoured that another Japanese company has chosen to invest into one of our projects, following the Kansai Electric Power and M.O.L’s investments during the last year. ERE is another high quality, global and industrial company which complements our existing partner base and further demonstrates the relevance of our projects and capabilities in the global floating offshore wind market”.
DNB Markets acted as sole financial adviser for Odfjell Oceanwind in the transaction with ERE.
Facts about GoliatVIND
The park will be connected to the power grid via the Goliat FPSO, which is already supplied with power from shore through a 110 kV high-voltage cable.
The cable has a capacity of 75 MW and GoliatVIND is planned with the same capacity. It corresponds to approx. 320 GWh added energy to the Hammerfest region in an average year.
Currently, there are plans for five floating wind turbines of 15 MW each.
The area is at 71 degrees north, located approx. 95 km northwest of Hammerfest at a depth of 3-400 metres. The floating wind turbines will be placed 5-11 kilometres from the Goliat platform. The placement of the wind turbines in the offshore wind farm in GoliatVIND has been done after dialogue with fishing interests.
The location is ideal for the design of Odfjell Oceanwind's floating wind foundation Deepsea Star™.
The park is planned to be in operation in 2028, depending on how the licensing process is laid out by the Ministry of Oil and Energy. In this way, the experience can be used in Norway's future floating offshore wind investment, including at Utsira Nord.