The Norwegian Ministry of Energy has put back the Utsira Nord offshore wind tender and the areas that are relevant for floating wind to the auction 2025 round.
The Ministry said that for “some time had a good and constructive dialogue with Esa, EFTA’s monitoring body, regarding state support for floating offshore wind”.
It said that, based on the dialogue with Esa, we have decided to notify a common model for state aid to Utsira Nord, before project areas are allocated.
The Ministry said it October 2023 that it wished to spend some more time with ESA and the European Commission to gain sufficient security that these areas can be awarded based on qualitative criteria with a competition for state aid at a later date.
Energy Minister Terje Aasland said: “The work with floating offshore wind has a very high priority and we are impatient to move forward.
“At the same time, we must do this in a proper and predictable way.
“We are concerned with building a solid foundation for floating offshore wind that will stand up.
“I hope that the notification can be approved before the turn of the year, and want to make arrangements so that we can allocate project areas in Utsira Nord in 2025.”
Notifying before project areas are allocated will provide better predictability because all necessary clarifications are in place before the area is allocated and provides legal certainty for the applicants that the allocation model is valid, the Ministry added.
It will also get a joint clarification for the areas that are relevant for floating offshore wind in the 2025 round.
The state aid will be notified according to the environmental guidelines in the state aid regulations (CEEAG).
In accordance with these guidelines, the Ministry will carry out a public consultation on eligibility and the most important parameters for the grant award. It aims for the consultation to be carried out before the summer of 2024.