Norway has launched its long-awaited maiden offshore wind tender, opening the door to bids to develop some 4.5GW of projects in two vast swathes of water off the Nordic country.

The Utsira Nord area, deepwater acreage off Norway’s west coast, and Sorlige Nordsjø II, which borders the Danish North Sea to the south, together amount some 3,500 square km in waters that in depths that will call for floating and bottom-fixed turbines.

“Offshore wind power offers great opportunities for Norwegian businesses. In the immediate future the market will be in other countries, but if the costs for offshore wind power continues to fall it could also become competitive in Norway,” said Norway’s minister for petroleum and energy Tina Bru, who announced the tender on a sail-by of the Hywind Demo floating wind R&D unit – the country’s only offshore turbine so far – in the North Sea.

“It is now time to prepare for the future development by allocating space for offshore renewables.

“The ministry received many good suggestions and viewpoints in the [public] consultation [in 2019] and I have put emphasis on finding the right balance between accommodating this exciting new industry, and at the same time ensure proper consideration of other interests in the upcoming licensing processes.”

The minister for the climate and environment, Sveinung Rotevatn, added: “The world will need more renewable energy in the future. The world-leading offshore industry in Norway can be at the forefront of developing the technology that makes it possible to reach Norwegian as well as global climate targets.

“By investing in offshore wind, we can both create new jobs for the future and reduce emissions.”

Utsira Nord and Sørlige Nordsjø II will be open to development applications from 1 January 2021. The government is also eyeing the so-called Sandskallen-Sørøya Nord area, off Hammerfest in the north of Norway, for floating wind arrays but there has been “robust resistance” from fisheries associations, noted Bru.

Norway has some of the richest offshore wind resources on the planet, with average speeds of some 10 metres/second, but its vast hydropower network, which meets almost the entire electricity needs of its 5 million citizens, and 50-year oil & gas industry history, has stalled development since the Hywind Demo - now an R&D unit - was switched on in 2009.

A first floating wind-powered offshore oil & gas project, the 88MW Hywind Tampen, is under development by part-state-owned energy giant Equinor at the Snorre-Gullfaks field in the Norwegian Sea.

A study from European industry advocacy body WindEurope pointed to the potential of Norway contributing some 30GW of power from offshore wind by mid-century.

Calculations by developer-led industry body the Ocean Renewable Energy Action Coalition suggest offshore wind power could make up 85% of 1.4TW world-wide build-out of renewable ocean energy plant by 2050, according to new calculations from , setting a new high-water mark for rapidly growing sector’s potential in the global energy mix.

Transition

Norwegian offshore wind leaves harbour with opening of 4.5GW tender