Earlier the same day a ship full of journalists and prominent guests from the national and the international offshore wind industry had left Bergen, heading for Hjeltefjorden where the prototype is located.  The wind and weather conditions seemed to be perfect for the occasion: No rain, and not too much wind.

Blades were spinning

The atmosphere on board was lively, influenced by the expectations of the sight that would meet us out there. But first the boat had to pick up Mr. Giske and his staff at a small fish harbor on the way to Hjeltefjorden.

  
Mr Giske arriving

10 minutes later we could see the floating tower rising up from the ocean with a turbine on the top. The blades were spinning slowly as the captain was maneuvering the boat as close to the installation as possible.

Anders Nissen-Lie of Inocean with the Sway prototype
in the background.

A milestone

No time to lose: A red ribbon was stretched from the tower to the boat, and the minister did what he came for: he cut the ribbon and declared the Sway prototype for opened. In his speech he called the event a major milestone, not only for Sway, but for the whole industry, and he spoke warmly about Sway for being a pioneer within offshore wind.  

Minister of Trade and Industry, Trond Giske, speaking.

A prototype is good marketing

Jon Erik Borgen, CEO of Inocean AS and a board member of Sway, was one of the guests at the opening.  Being a part of this journey since the beginning in 2001, he as well talked about the importance of the prototype that are now installed offshore Bergen. This is important not only because of the testing activities that will be going on for a year or two, but according to Borgen it will also mean a lot for the commercial part of the work of making this technology a success in the energy market.  

Eystein Borgen (Sway) and Jon Erik Borgen (Inocean)
were proud and happy after the opening ceremony.

Inocean was co-founder of Sway and is one of the company's main share holders.