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On Monday (10 February) Norway’s energy ministry said it had cancelled the plans for a fixed-bottom offshore wind auction at the Sørvest F site in the North Sea. 

The site was planned as an extension to the 1.5GW Sørlige Nordsjø II site. A consortium led by Ikea-owner Ingka Investments and Belgian developer Parkwind won the development rights to the site at auction last year. 

Explaining its decision, the government referenced the conclusions of a report published by Norway’s grid systems operator Stattnett this month. 

The report showed that creating a hybrid network of cables – both connecting offshore wind farms to the Norwegian grid and acting as cross-border interconnectors – would not improve the high costs associated with Norway’s plans for offshore wind development. 

“We are currently facing high costs, both related to offshore wind production and associated grid solutions. It is clear from the study by Statnett that hybrid cables will not solve these challenges. Offshore wind production will depend on significant government support, regardless of which grid solution we propose,” energy minister Terje Aasland said. 

Aasland added that European regulations also do not currently support cross-border interconnection of wind farms.

Instead, Aasland said the government would prioritise floating offshore wind with an individual radial, point-to-point connection between the wind farm and the mainland. Floating wind has been tipped as a key future energy source for Norway. 

Arvid Nesse, the CEO of industry body Norwegian Offshore Wind (NOW), told “uåX˜äŠÊ˜·³Ç he understood the decision and pointed out the advantages of floating wind power development in Norway. 

“We understand that the government needs to prioritise projects, and moving forward with floating offshore wind is a wise decision, in our opinion. Norway is pioneering floating technology and innovation, and we have nature given advantages such as deep waters and fjords,” he said. 

To that end, Norway’s government is pursuing an inaugural floating offshore wind tender at the Utsira Nord site in the North Sea. 

The tender was previously postponed amid concerns over its compliance with European state aid rules, and was downsized in September last year. In December, consortiums led by oil major Shell and offshore wind specialist Fred Olsen.Seawind pulled out of their planned bids for the site. 

A spokesperson for NOW told “uåX˜äŠÊ˜·³Ç the Utsira Nord tender was expected to be announced in Q1 of 2025. 

“The industry has challenged the government to put forward a clear timeline for future tenders, containing capacity per leasing round. We hope they will keep their promise to do so this summer, and we are happy to see that 70% of the areas in question are suitable for floating,” Arvid Nesse said.