[1] Equinor started developing and testing offshore wind installations in 2009, with their first 2.3 MW Hywind Demo project outside of Karmøy, south-west Norway.

Installation of floating turbines therefore requires a large technical expertise and investments, but the wind farm has greater potential for electricity generation.

Equinor intends to expand their offshore wind capacity while reducing cost, and their main strategy for doing so is to invest in technological improvements and large-scale building projects.

The bottom 20 metres (66 ft) was constructed in a dry dock in Stord, before being towed to the Vindafjord where the remainder was built and the mechanical outfitting completed.

[8] The blade movement is regulated through turbine motion controllers, intended to maximize electricity generation, and reduce strain on the tower from corrosion and rough weather.

[citation needed] The turbines are inter-connected in a loop via a string of eleven 2.5 km (1.6 mi) long dynamic cables, with a 630 mm2 (0.98 sq in) cross-section.

[citation needed] Hywind Tampen is a largely unmanned wind farm, with an onshore control room in Bergen, on the western coast of Norway.

[16] Hywind Tampen has awarded a broad series of multinational companies (mostly based in Europe) for the provision of parts and installation of the wind park.

[13] Based on annual revenues from 2018, Equinor was the world’s seventh largest transnational corporation in the core industries of the ocean economy, which can be attributed to their oil and gas extraction.

To approve state funding, the Norwegian Ministry of Trade had to notify the EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) to monitor compliance with the European Economic Area.

[22] They aim to create 300 GW of offshore wind installed capacity by 2050, which they suggest would require a massive growth of the industry (about 30x) and an estimated investment of EUR 800 billion.

Their multinational supply chain, consisting largely of EU member state-based companies, could thereby have a positive effect on the development of offshore wind industries for both parties.

Generally, safety concern factors relating to offshore wind farms are corrosion, fire, lightning strikes, blade failure, personal injury, ship collision and submarine cable damage.

[24] Extreme weather conditions could also pose a risk if employees present in, on or around the farm, but the digitalization of operations makes manual labour unnecessary under such circumstances.

[27] The North Sea is an area of high traffic, but Equinor finds in their impact assessment of Hywind Tampen that the likelihood of collision is negligible;[26] largely based on experiences from Snorre and Gullfaks.

[26] The anchoring system also limits expansion of the petroleum industry in the area as seismic studies and drilling could destabilize the wind turbines.

Furthermore, the maintenance of the turbines is assessed to emit 40 0000 tons of CO2 over their entire lifespan,[26] and the rerouting of navigation could potentially lead to longer sailing routes which requires more fuel.

Interestingly, offshore wind farms can have a positive effect on marine life by acting as an artificial reef concentration nutrients and biodiversity, while also providing shelter from boats, predators, and fishermen.

[28] Equinor’s impact assessment finds that the sea floor is uniform and lacks coral structures, and therefore argues that Hywind Tampen’s artificial reef effect can be beneficial for biodiversity.

The most common species in the area around Hywind Tampen are cod, haddock, saithe, and Norwegian pout, and Equinor’s own assessment yet again finds little effect on fish population except for some spawning interferences during implementation.

The updated European Union’s Maritime Security Strategy calls for a higher level of cooperation across member states on issues of critical marine infrastructure protection.

[31] The EU is also becoming more tightly involved with NATO and the two parties launched a joint military action force to protect critical infrastructure and reinforce common security in January 2023.

[32][30] This task force plays an important and increasing part in the surveillance of Norwegian waters,[33] and NATO presence around platforms and installations in the North Sea is intended to evade attacks on critical infrastructure.

Hywind Tampen’s contribution to the Norwegian oil and gas sector could in fact have a direct positive effect on EU energy security.

The increasing threat is largely attributed to a broader array of interests and actors, who make use of a wider portfolio of disruptive means for sabotage, espionage, and the mapping of critical infrastructure.

[33] The Nordic national broadcasting channels have collectively uncovered an increased, prolonged and suspicious activity of Russian ships in the proximity of offshore wind farms and important submarine cable junctures, often ahead of disruptions.

[36] The NSM asserts that submarine infrastructure is especially vulnerable to sabotage, and the thousands of kilometres of gas pipeline off the Norwegian coast is impossible to fully monitor.

[37] Hywind Tampen may be comforted by their spatial proximity to the largest naval base in the Nordic region, Haakonsvern in Bergen, and a relatively large distance to the Russian boarder.

The breadth of external parties involved in the park’s value chain could potentially be a risk factor of leakage of vital information, like vulnerabilities in the cable system or turbines.

International trade routes frequently pass in the vicinity of Hywind Tampen, so smugglers can easily avoid suspicion when being in close range.