Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Equinor's (EQNR) Norway Wind Farm to Become Effective in 2022

Read MoreHide Full Article

Equinor ASA (EQNR - Free Report) announced that its Hywind Tampen floating wind farm in Norway would begin operations this year.

Hywind Tampen will be situated 140 kilometers off the Norwegian coast, 260-300 meters below the water surface. The total capacity of the wind farm is 88 megawatts (MW).

Once operational, Hywind Tampen will become the largest floating wind farm globally. However, the farm will be smaller than planned, as steel quality issues have been detected in four of the 11 turbines.

Equinor is developing the Hywind Tampen floating wind farm to power its five offshore oil and gas platforms in the North Sea, namely Snorre A and B, and Gullfaks A, B and C. The turbines will be capable of supplying 35% of the platforms’ power requirements.

The offshore wind turbines are installed on floating concrete structures with a shared anchoring system. The first seven turbines are expected to start producing power in the third quarter of this year. The turbines have been upgraded from 8 MW to 8.6 MW, making the wind farm more powerful.

As planned, only the first seven Hywind Tampen turbines would become operational this year. The first seven turbines, with a capacity of 60 MW, will supply electricity to Gullfaks and Snorre. The remaining four will be installed next spring. The supply-chain bottlenecks prevented the delivery of the final four tower sections for the wind turbines.

Siemens Gamesa is the provider of towers, nacelles and blades for the project. The company is working with its suppliers and Equinor to accelerate all deliveries. The seven already collected turbines have been thoroughly examined and have met all quality requirements.

Price Performance

Shares of Equinor have outperformed the industry in the past six months. The stock has gained 16.2% compared with the industry’s 3.2% growth.

 

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

 

Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider

Equinor currently carries a Zack Rank #2 (Buy).

Investors interested in the energy sector might look at the following companies that presently sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Antero Resources Corporation (AR - Free Report) is among the fast-growing natural gas producers in the United States. AR currently has a Zacks Style Score of A for Growth. It is expected to see earnings growth of 391% in 2022.

Antero Resources is targeting a capital return program of 25-50% of free cash flow annually, beginning with the implementation of the share repurchase program. The company’s board authorized a share repurchase program that enables it to repurchase up to $1 billion of outstanding common stock.

Range Resources Corporation (RRC - Free Report) is among the top 10 natural gas producers in the United States. The company expects the free cash flow to exceed $1.4 billion this year, which could be the highest among Appalachian players. RRC currently has a Zacks Style Score of A for Growth and B for Momentum. It is expected to see earnings growth of 147% in 2022.

Range Resources reinstated its regular quarterly cash dividend, expected to start in the second half of this year. RRC anticipated its annual dividend rate at 32 cents per share. RRC’s board of directors approved a $500-million share repurchase program, which is likely to be funded with its free cash flow generation.

PBF Energy Inc. (PBF - Free Report) , based in New Jersey, is a leading refiner of crude oil. PBF currently has a Zacks Style Score of A for Value, Growth and Momentum. It is expected to see earnings growth of 471.2% in 2022.

In 2021, PBF Energy’s crude oil and feedstocks throughput volumes were 834.5 thousand barrels per day (bpd), higher than the year-ago figure of 727.7 thousand bpd. Moreover, it expects total throughput volumes of 865-925 thousand bpd in 2022.

Published in