Norway hopes to get tender plans for floating wind in the Utsira Nord area of the North Sea back on track in 2025, the government said today (22 March).
Having previously postponed the planned auction for the site, the energy ministry said that based on discussions with the European Free Trade Association’s monitoring body, ESA, it wants to develop a 'common model' for state aid to Utsira Nord, before project areas are allocated.
There will be a joint notification for Utsira Nord and areas that are relevant for floating offshore wind in the 2025 round, said energy minister Terje Aasland.
“We are impatient to move forward. At the same time, we must do this in a proper and predictable way,” Aasland said.
Ensuring all necessary clarifications are in place will do that, providing greater predictability and legal certainty for applicants that the allocation model is valid, the government added.
It hopes to complete a public consultation on eligibility and the “most important” parameters for the grant award before summer, so the notification can be approved before the end of 2024.
"It's very unfortunate that Utsira Nord is being further delayed. It's extremely disappointing that we weren't able to get support from the ESA at this moment for the model that both the government and the industry preferred,” said Arvid Nesse, CEO of Norwegian Offshore Wind. "We trust that the government will continue to do everything possible to maintain the progress of floating offshore wind in Norway. This is where we have all the prerequisites to be world leading"
Earlier this week, Norway announced that a consortium of Ikea-owner Ingka Investments and Belgian developer Parkwind won the country’s first offshore wind tender, for a 1.5GW project in the Sørlige Nordsjø II area of the Norwegian North Sea.
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