风能将为开采海底油气提供电力

据今日油价4月13日报道，更长的叶片，更高的塔，更强大的涡轮机：如今风能似乎已经过了创新的高峰，正在逐步改进，而不是突破。然而，除了一家石油公司外，没有任何一家公司冒险进入一个具有巨大潜力的新领域：浮动海上风电。

挪威石油部本月早些时候批准了Equinor的一项计划，旨在在北海建造和运营一个浮动海上风电场，为多达五个油气平台提供电力。该项目是同类项目中的首个，但是它将对海上油气以及海上风电产生重大影响。

事实：距离挪威海岸140公里的Hywind Tampen风力发电场的总发电量为88兆瓦，配备11台涡轮机，将满足两个Snorre平台和三个Gullfaks平台约35％的电力需求。但是，Equinor表示，在风速较高的时期，该百分比将大大提高。

这项耗资4.9亿美元（合50亿瑞典克朗）的项目将减少燃气轮机的发电，从而使这五个平台的二氧化碳排放量每年减少约20万吨，并将一氧化二氮的排放量减少1000吨。

这当然是一项巨大的任务。 由于风电场产生的电力将用于从海底开采石油和天然气，因此在环保方面不太可能给Equinor评很多分，但这并不是该项目的唯一目的。

据Equinor称，Hywind Tampen风电场还将成为未来海上风电装置的试验场。

郝芬 译自 今日油价

原文如下：

Offshore Oil Could Soon Be Powered By Wind

Longer blades, taller towers, more powerful turbines: wind energy seems to be past the peak of innovation now, improving incrementally rather than with breakthrough. And yet none other than an oil company has ventured into a new field with massive potential: floating offshore wind.

The Norwegian petroleum ministry earlier this month approved a plan by Equinor to build and operate a floating offshore wind farm in the North Sea that will supply power to as many as five oil and gas platforms. The project is the first of its kind, but it would have significant implications both for offshore oil and gas and for offshore wind.

The facts: the Hywind Tampen wind farm, 140 km off the Norwegian coast, will have a total capacity of 88 MW with 11 turbines that will meet around 35 percent of the electricity needs of the two Snorre platforms and the three Gullfaks platforms. However, Equinor says that "In periods of higher wind speed this percentage will be significantly higher."

The $490-million (5 billion kroner) project will reduce the use of gas turbines for power generation, consequently lowering the emissions of carbon dioxide from the five platforms by some 200,000 tons annually and emissions of nitrous oxides by 1,000 tons.

That's certainly a sizable undertaking. It is unlikely to score Equinor many green points since the power generated by the wind farm will be used for extracting oil and gas from the bottom of the sea, but this is not the only purpose of the project.

According to Equinor, the Hywind Tampen wind farm will also be a test site for future offshore wind installations.