Equinor and Vargronn have signed a collaboration agreement to jointly apply for offshore wind acreage in Norway for the Utsira Nord area.
Equinor and Vargronn a Norwegian renewable energy company established by HitecVision and Eni, aim to jointly prepare and submit an application to the Norwegian authorities to develop floating offshore wind at Utsira Nord, west of Utsira and Haugalandet in the Norwegian North Sea.
The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has opened two areas for offshore renewables (Utsira Nord and Sorlige Nordsjo 2) and the authorities are working on the licensing process for Norwegian offshore wind power projects.
The North Sea has some of the world’s best wind resources and is well known to the two offshore wind energy companies.
Equinor new energy solutions vice president Pal Eitrheim (pictured, right) said: “The North Sea has some of the world’s best wind resources.
“A floating offshore wind farm at Utsira Nord could be the next project at scale to drive industrialisation of floating offshore wind and create new opportunities for Norwegian industry.
“Together with Vargronn, we are eager to contribute to a new chapter in Norway’s energy legacy and position floating offshore wind as a new industry contributing to the energy transition.”
Vargronn CEO Olav Hetland said his company is “excited to enter into a partnership with Equinor on floating offshore wind”.
“This project will be an essential part of our ambition to own and operate 1GW installed capacity by 2030.
“Developing a home market for offshore wind power, particularly floating, will be important for developing the Norwegian offshore wind supply industry, and positioning new technologies for a growing global market.”
Equinor said it has managed to bring the cost down for each floating offshore wind project it has developed: Between Hywind demo in 2009 and Hywind Scotland in 2017 the company took down capex per megawatt by 70%.
When Hywind Tampen starts up next year the ambition is to reduce the costs further by more than 40%.
For both Equinor’s floating offshore wind projects, Norwegian suppliers have shown their ability to compete in a global market with 30% Norwegian content on Hywind Scotland and 50% on Hywind Tampen.