by Nora Buli
OSLO (Reuters) – Norway launched a tender on Monday for its first commercial offshore wind farm, offering up to 1.5 gigawatts (GW) of generating capacity, which is expected to mark the start of a massive development of renewable electricity as the government hopes.
“Auctions are underway,” the Energy Ministry said in a statement, allaying fears among some analysts who believed no bids would be made due to the rising costs of offshore wind.
The ministry will present the name of the winner of the tender for the Soerlige Nordsjoe II concession at the end of the auction, and refused to reveal the number of groups involved.
Soerlige Nordsjoe II is close to the Norwegian border with Denmark in the North Sea and approximately 200 kilometers from the Norwegian coast. This project is part of the government’s wider ambition to deliver 30 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2040.
The proposed offer includes state aid capped at a total of 23 billion Norwegian crowns (1.99 billion euros).
Five groups prequalified in February, but German company EnBW has since confirmed it will not participate, citing “the requirement for the developer to build and own the high-voltage direct current transmission connector and the limitation of state aid.
The four other candidates are the Norwegians Equinor and Aker Offshore Wind in partnership with Statkraft, the German RWE and the British BP.
While Shell and others have raised questions about the project’s profitability, the other four bidders, interviewed by Reuters, declined to say whether they would make a bid.
The offshore wind sector is facing cost increases from rising interest rates and supply chain bottlenecks. Big names like Orsted, Vattenfall, TotalEnergies and Iberdrola have withdrawn from participating in the auction.
(Reporting Nora Buli; French version Alban Kacher, editing by Kate Entringer)
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