Norway’s minister of petroleum and energy, Terje Søviknes, said he is set on opening two new areas for offshore wind on the Norwegian continental shelf this autumn that are expected to be connected to an already developed oil and gas sector.

“The industry has called for a demonstration and pilot facility. It will be a place to innovate and learn, enabling Norwegian technology and competence to develop in order to compete in a quickly evolving and growing global market,” Søviknes is quoted as saying at the annual Energy Outlook conference hosted by GCE NODE, the Norwegian oil and gas association, and the federation of Norwegian industries.