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Two consortia have applied for offshore sites in the Norwegian area designated for floating wind projects, Utsira Nord. The bidders are Harald Hårfagre, a joint venture between Deep Wind Offshore and EDF Renewables, and a consortium of Equinor and Vårgrønn.
Norway’s Ministry of Energy will now begin the work on assessing the applications and plans to allocate project sites during the first half of 2026. There are no financial obligations or fees associated with the allocation of land.
The Ministry announced a competition for the allocation of areas for floating offshore wind in Utsira Nord in May this year, offering three sites with a project capacity of 500 MW each.
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The tendering process is being carried out in two stages: the allocation of project sites and the state aid, with a maturation phase in between.
In the first stage, the sites will be allocated to the developers who score the highest in a competition based on qualitative criteria, including cost level and maturity, innovation and technology development, feasibility, sustainability, and positive ripple effects.
The competitive tender for state aid is expected to be held in 2028/29.
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The competition for state aid will be conducted after a maturation phase. To participate, the bidder must have submitted a licence application and provided a bank guarantee for participation in the auction. The auction will only be conducted if at least two developers meet the requirements.