Norway Shifts Focus to Floating Offshore Wind Projects

OSLO, Feb 10 (Reuters) – Norway will not offer acreage suitable for bottom-fixed offshore wind farm development when it next announces new tenders, and will instead focus on floating wind options, it said on Monday.

The government had previously said it would offer new areas in its North Sea bordering Denmark suitable for turbines fixed to the seabed, that may also connect to other countries via so-called hybrid cables.

“We believe that it is not the time to proceed with planning hybrid cables now,” Energy Minister Terje Aasland said in a statement, citing high cost levels and the lack of a European framework for hybrid connections.

A study by grid operator Statnett had shown that building out the area known as Soervest F would require government support regardless of whether the wind farms connected to Norway only or also other markets, he added.

Aasland also said he was skeptical of further exposing the Norwegian power system to the challenges in other markets such as Germany.

Instead, the government will prioritize floating offshore wind projects with single-point connections to Norway, the minister said.

Norway, whose domestic power generation is dominated by cheap, abundant hydropower has some of the lowest electricity prices in Europe, but also saw an increase in the wake of the European energy crisis in 2022.

A net exporter of power through subsea cables linking it with Germany, Britain, Denmark, and the Netherlands, these connections have been blamed for lifting prices domestically.

Last year, the country tendered its first offshore wind farm, Soerlige Nordsjoe II, located in the area now being scrapped for immediate further development.

(Reporting by Nora Buli, editing by Terje Solsvik)

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