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Statkraft has teamed-up with Aker’s offshore wind unit and clean energy investment arm to explore opportunities for development in the Norwegian North Sea.��

Their initial focus is the potential for a bottom-fixed project in the Sørlige Nordsjø II area off Norway's south-west coast, one of two areas opened up for development.

Statkraft and Aker Offshore Wind would co-develop any potential project, with Aker Horizons providing financial support.

The partners are yet to specify a potential project capacity or commissioning date, but the power produced could be used to power Norwegian oil and gas installations, or exported, Statkraft suggested.��

Statkraft had ceased its offshore wind investments in 2015, claiming the sector was too “capital intensive”, but acquired a 750MW project under development off the coast of Ireland through its acquisition of Element Energy's UK and Irish pipeline.��Now, it has noted offshore wind’s falling costs.

It had also decided against pursuing further wind power development in Norway, beyond the completion of the 1GW-plus Fosen complex and two other licensed wind farms, citing profitability concerns.

“Strong growth, falling technology costs and a changed competitor landscape indicates that offshore wind will take a larger role in the European energy transition. Therefore, we see the cooperation with Aker as an opportunity for substantial value creation and [to] accelerate Europe’s green transition,” said Statkraft’s CEO Christian Rynning-Tønnesen.

Meanwhile, Aker highlighted Norway as a target market ahead of the spin-off of its offshore wind business last year.

Øyvind Eriksen, President and CEO of Aker ASA and chairman of Aker Horizons, added: “Norway’s leading offshore industry, including a strong supplier industry, means we already have the building blocks and capabilities in place to be at the forefront of the energy transition.”