Equinor Launches High-Tech Buoy

Posted by Michelle Howard
Friday, February 8, 2019

Equinor Wind US has announced deployment of a cutting-edge, specialized buoy designed to gather information, an important step in the development of its offshore wind lease site in the “New York Bight,” which will provide wind energy to New York and the region to help achieve the renewable energy goals recently set forth by Governor Andrew Cuomo.

The Floating LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) device will measure wind speed, wind direction, wave conditions and several other marine characteristics that help inform critical decisions in regard to the resource potential and eventual development of the wind farm.  It will be deployed to record this information for two years.

“The deployment of this specialized buoy marks another step forward in the multi-year process of bringing a reliable source of renewable energy to the New York / New Jersey area,” Christer af Geijerstam, President, Equinor Wind US, said. “Offshore wind power today is made possible by a host of innovative technologies, from larger and more efficient turbines to sophisticated LiDAR systems like this that enable us to gauge invaluable information about the characteristics of this offshore lease area.”

“The FLiDAR itself is an example of renewable energy innovation,” af Geijerstam said. “The floating system, using solar panels, wind turbines and large batteries in its hull, can operate autonomously throughout a full winter season offshore New York. Access to good quality wind recordings like those provided by the FLiDAR system is essential to the development of any wind energy project today.  It’s yet another example of the technological innovation that Equinor is bringing to offshore wind development in New York.”

Strong Presence on the East Coast
Equinor Wind US won the federal lease auction of 80,000 acres south of New York and east of New Jersey in 2016. The company is currently developing projects in the lease area for the offshore-wind markets in New York and New Jersey, with the projects named Empire Wind in New York and Boardwalk Wind in New Jersey.

In December 2018, Equinor submitted a winning bid of $135 million for a lease area offshore Massachusetts in an auction held by the US Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. The new lease, located south of Massachusetts and east of New York, gives Equinor a strong strategic position in the region.

The company now holds leases within reach of some of the most important markets for offshore wind in the U.S., with the potential to provide over two million homes with clean, renewable power.

Growing Renewable Energy Portfolio Worldwide
Equinor is building a material position in renewable energy and evolving into a broad energy company. Equinor now powers more than one million European homes with renewable wind power from four projects in the United Kingdom and Germany. Equinor commissioned the world’s first floating offshore wind farm last year, off the coast of Scotland, a technology essential to the development of offshore wind in many locations around the world, including the west coast of the US. Equinor is also developing offshore wind in Poland, as well as solar energy in Brazil and Argentina.


Categories: Offshore Energy Renewable Energy Offshore Wind

Related Stories

Malaysia’s Petronas and Oman’s OQEP Strengthen Oil and Gas Ties

Southeast Asia’s 2GW Cross-Border Offshore Wind Scheme Targets 2034 Buildout

Pharos Energy Kicks Off Drilling Campaign Offshore Vietnam

Eni-Petronas Gas Joint Venture Up for Launch in 2026

MODEC Ramps Up Hammerhead FPSO Work After ExxonMobil's Go-Ahead

PXGEO Nets First Seismic Survey off Malaysia

Saipem Marks First Steel Cut for Tangguh UCC Project at Karimun Yard

Saipem Wins FEED Contract For Abadi LNG Project FPSO Module In Indonesia

China Rolls Out 17MW Floating Wind Turbine Prototype

Baker Hughes, Petronas Team Up for Asia-Pacific Energy Resilience

Current News

Malaysia’s Petronas and Oman’s OQEP Strengthen Oil and Gas Ties

Southeast Asia’s 2GW Cross-Border Offshore Wind Scheme Targets 2034 Buildout

Pharos Energy Kicks Off Drilling Campaign Offshore Vietnam

Viridien to Shed More Light on Malaysia’s Offshore Oil and Gas Potential

US Pressure on India Could Propel Russia's Shadow Oil Exports

Energy Drilling’s EDrill-2 Rig Starts Ops for PTTEP in Gulf of Thailand

RINA Wins FEED Contract for Petronas’ Flagship CCS Project in Malaysia

ABL Secures Rig Moving Assignment with India's ONGC

Pakistan, Türkiye Deepen Oil and Gas Ties with Offshore Indus-C Block Deal

Eni-Petronas Gas Joint Venture Up for Launch in 2026

Subscribe for AOG Digital E‑News

AOG Digital E-News is the subsea industry's largest circulation and most authoritative ENews Service, delivered to your Email three times per week

https://accounts.newwavemedia.com