“In the call for proposals for project areas in Utsira Nord, the model is such that project areas are to be allocated based on qualitative criteria and that competition for state aid is carried out at a later stage as part of the licensing process. The ministry wishes to spend some more time with ESA and the European Commission to gain sufficient security that these three areas can be awarded based on qualitative criteria with a competition for state aid at a later date, as the government has proposed. This must be clarified before the ministry can receive applications for project areas,” the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy said in October 2023.
According to its latest press release on the Utsira Nord process, issued on 22 March 2024, the government also wants to set a solid foundation for floating offshore wind reaching beyond the 1.5 GW that will be awarded in the first floating wind tender, so there will be a joint notification on the common state aid model for Utsira Nord and the floating wind areas that are planned to be awarded in the 2025 round.
As reported throughout the last year, Norway has identified 20 new areas for offshore wind development on the recommendation of the country’s Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE). In September 2023, the government commissioned NVE to carry out strategic impact assessments of three offshore wind areas that may be opened and put out to tender in 2025 .
For the tendering round in 2025, NVE has recommended that the already open areas Southern North Sea II and Utsira Nord be expanded with two areas named Sørvest F and Vestavind F. In addition, the government plans for a strategic impact analysis to also be undertaken for a third area, Vestavind B.
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