The Norwegian offshore wind consortium Norseman Wind, together with EnBW, has decided to locate its offshore wind operations in Norway’s Agder region.
Norseman Wind and EnBW plan to develop 1.5GW of offshore wind energy in the Southern North Sea II, the Norwegian part of the North Sea.
Atle Beisland, Managing Director of Norseman Wind, and Holger Grubel, Head of Offshore Wind Energy at EnBW, both stated: “We have made the strategic decision that the development, operation and maintenance of Sørlige Nordsjø II (Southern North Sea II) will be managed from Kristiansand.
“The province of Agder, where Kristiansand is located, is a perfect location for our offshore wind turbines.
“It is located only a short distance from the Southern North Sea II.
“The location offers good access to qualified specialists, and in the GCE Node Cluster there are many highly interesting supplier companies with whom we can work together on development.”
The Southern North Sea II development will cost about Nkr35bn (€3.5bn), and at least 50% of this will go to the Norwegian supplier industry.
The process of awarding the first contracts is already underway.
The development organisation of Norseman Wind and EnBW will create “several hundred skilled jobs related to operations and development” in the Agder region if the government provides the appropriate funds, the partners said.
Kristiansand will be the headquarters of Norseman Wind and the headquarters of EnBW’s Norwegian branch, while Mandal could play an important role as a construction port.
The first phase of development in the Southern North Sea II will have an annual operating and maintenance budget of Nkr600-800m.
The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy is expected to announce the allocation round for the Southern North Sea II in early 2023 and allocate space to a development company before the summer of next year.
“We are confident that the decision by Norseman Wind and EnBW to relocate our development organization and headquarters to Kristiansand will increase our chances of winning the auction,” said Beisland and Grubel.