Norwegian subsea solutions bring down floating wind costs
Page date: published 2 December 2024; updated 30 September 2026; 5 min read (as rendered).
The article describes moving offshore-wind equipment below the surface as a way to reduce installation cost, environmental impact and worker exposure. Aker Solutions is reported to have a contract with Renexia for the Med Wind floating-wind project in the Strait of Sicily: eight subsea-substation modules at depths of 520–660 metres. Aker and ABB are also developing a subsea power-distribution system for floating wind at Norway’s METCentre. ABB’s proposed package includes transformer, switchgear and control module. The page cites studies estimating 30–40% cost reductions against topside substations in waters deeper than 60–70 metres; this is a cited estimate, not a realized project result.
Robotics and monitoring examples include Argeo’s autonomous underwater survey vehicles and subsea sensing, SubC3D’s ROV and proposed resident monitoring units that feed data into 3D models, Norwegian Subsea’s motion sensors for roll, pitch, yaw, surge, sway and heave, 4Subsea’s sensor and digital-twin monitoring, and Kongsberg Ferrotech’s subsea inspection, maintenance and repair robots. GeoProvider’s seismic/data analysis is presented as a method to assess site conditions and sensitive habitats without intrusive data acquisition. These performance and environmental claims are from the article and named suppliers.
Related links: Energy; Offshore wind.