Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has received seven applications to participate in the tender for the Southern North Sea II offshore wind project area.

Chinese wind turbine manufacturer Mingyang Smart Energy, Texas-based Hydroelectric Corporation, and Norseman Wind, a subsidiary of EnBW, submitted individual applications to take part in the tender.

Among others who sought pre-qualification for Norway’s first commercial offshore wind farm tender are consortia including Aker Offshore Wind, BP, and Statkraft; Equinor and RWE; Parkwind and Ingka Investments; and Shell, Lyse, and Eviny.

“Despite large cost increases for the global offshore wind industry recently, there are several strong players applying to be able to participate in the auction round for Sørlige North Sea II. We are now starting to assess the various applications,” said Norway’s Minister of Petroleum and Energy Terje Aasland.

According to the tender documents, the ministry will prequalify a minimum of six and a maximum of eight applicants. If fewer than six applicants can be prequalified, the ministry said it will assess whether the auction should be carried out.

The Norwegian government officially opened the application window for Norway’s first offshore wind auction on 29 March, offering a combined capacity of 3 GW across two areas, 1.5 GW at Southern North Sea II and 1.5 GW at Utsira Nord.

The deadline for applications was set for 1 September and the winners of the first offshore and floating wind sites were expected to be announced by the end of this year.

However, the Southern North Sea II tender was postponed last month as the government had to wait to obtain approval for state aid from the EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA).

Currently, the tender has a “tentative deadline” of February 2024.

The Southern North Sea II tender is based on the so-called English auction model, with the bidder with the lowest bid price (NOK øre/kWh) to be selected.

The government has ambitions that by 2040 areas will be allocated for 30,000 MW of offshore wind production.

Source  offshore wind