Market potential

The SWAY technology will open up large new areas worldwide for harvesting wind energy. The medium to long term market potential is significant, comprising both electrification of offshore oil & gas installations and export to the onshore electricity market.

Wind power production can be more efficient in deep water locations due to the presence of consistently higher average wind speeds. At 50 km off the coast of Norway, where the water depth is typically between 100-300m, the power production from each wind turbine would be 20-30% higher than the same wind turbine located at the Horn's Reef installation situated some 15 km off the west coast of Denmark. This improvement is simply due to the greater and more consistent winds further offshore.

Electrification of oil & gas installations

The SWAY® system is a viable solution for the electrification of oil & gas platforms with electricity production costs, including capital costs, well below the operational costs alone for the gas and diesel turbines used currently in the offshore industry. A detailed case study for the integration of wind power to an oil platform off the coast of Norway was successfully completed in 2004. The study concludes that it is both technically and economically feasible to integrate wind power with the existing gas and diesel generators on the offshore oil & gas platforms. The benefits of this integration would be savingsin the form of lower electricity costs and reduced emissions.

Export to onshore electricity market

SWAY's technology has the potential of providing Norway and several other countries (including USA, Japan, Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Italy) economical access to an unlimited energy source with no pollution and minimal environmental controversy.