Hydro Rein has pulled out of a project with Equinor and RWE to participate in the pre-qualification round to develop a large-scale, bottom-fixed offshore wind farm in the Sorlige Nordsjo 2 area in the Norwegian North Sea.
Equinor and RWE will continue their partnership, and further develop their joint project application.
In May 2021, Equinor, RWE and Hydro Rein signed a collaboration agreement for offshore wind in Norway.
The three companies have been maturing and preparing to jointly submit a thorough application for the upcoming prequalification round in September.
In parallel, Hydro Rein has developed a significant portfolio of onshore wind and solar projects in the Nordics and Brazil, with 1.7GW of projects in construction and a growing pipeline currently comprising 5GW of projects at various stages of development.
The renewables developer said that, after careful consideration and based on an overall assessment of the opportunities in its portfolio and capital allocation priorities, Hydro Rein had decided not to participate in the competition for the Sorlige Nordsjo 2, phase 1 project.
Head of Hydro Rein Olivier Girardot said: “This has been a tough decision to make. It has been great working with Equinor and RWE on this project and we believe they remain the best players to develop Sorlige Nordsjo 2.
“However, in this phase of Hydro Rein’s growth, we need to prioritise other projects in our pipeline.
“We are convinced that Norway has all it takes to be a leading offshore wind market in the future.
“Offshore wind remains of interest for Hydro Rein, and as the company grows, we will continue to look for attractive development opportunities with strong partners.”