Oil major Shell has warned it may pull out of Norway’s first offshore wind tender over concerns about the costs of the project and “very challenging” tender conditions, according to a media report.
Shell’s country manager reportedly told an event in Oslo that the company “might not bid” for the rights to build Norway’s first fixed-bottom offshore wind farm in the North Sea.
Marianne Olsen said that the business case for the project was “not looking great” and that the tender conditions were “very challenging”, newswire Reuters reported.
Offshore wind developers are being asked to develop certain parts of the Sørlige Nordsjø II project that are typically handled by grid operators. The pre-qualification process for the auction is currently underway.
Olsen did not rule out Shell bidding in Norway’s future offshore wind tenders, including a round for floating wind at the Utsira Nord site in the North Sea, though this tender has been shelved indefinitely.
Shell had announced plans to bid in the two tenders alongside Norwegian hydropower companies BKK and Lyse back in 2021.
Danish renewables major Ørsted had also scrapped plans to bid in the Norwegian tenders to prioritise business development and bidding activities elsewhere.
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