RWE Renewables, Equinor, and Hydro REIN have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Windport to explore port opportunities in the Mandal area in Norway if the consortium wins the upcoming Sørlige Nordsjø II offshore wind farm tender.
As previously reported, the 3 GW of fixed-bottom capacity at the Sørlige Nordsjø II zone will be auctioned off in two 1.5 GW phases.
The Norwegian Government has announced that the first phase of the Sørlige Nordsjø II area will be auctioned in 2023, giving the winner the opportunity to develop a 1.5 GW wind farm that provides power to the Norwegian mainland.
RWE Renewables, Equinor, and Hydro REIN jointly aim to develop a large-scale bottom-fixed offshore wind farm in the North Sea area.
Windport, a wholly owned subsidiary of Global Ocean Technology, aims to provide port facilities for the development and construction phase of the offshore wind farm.
Under the agreement signed with Windport, the parties have agreed to exchange and discuss information to assess the feasibility of potential industrial development, related to such port facilities.
“The planned offshore wind development in the Sørlige Nordsjø II area represents great business opportunities for the Southern part of Norway, and we are looking forward to jointly explore how the Mandal area can provide the port facilities needed, with Equinor, RWE and Hydro”, said Pål Tore Svendsen , Head of offshore wind at Hydro REIN.
The agreement does not cover operations and maintenance base facilities. This is covered in a separate process toward potential Norwegian harbour locations.
“ The Norwegian Government has set a target for offshore wind of 30 GW in Norway by 2040. The North Sea has among the world’s best wind resources. A large-scale offshore wind farm at Sørlige Nordsjø II could play a key role in expanding the North Sea as an offshore energy hub, and create new industrial opportunities”, said Arne Eik , project director for Sørlige Nordsjø II from Equinor.
The project/s selected in this phase will not be inter-connected to the grids of other countries and will deliver all of the generated electricity to the Norwegian grid. The 1.5 GW of capacity at the Sørlige Nordsjø II zone awarded in the second auction will have the option to export the generated electricity outside Norway.
Norway is also preparing to award 1.5 GW of floating wind capacity at the Utsira Nord area using qualitative criteria and not an auction model. The qualitative criteria entail facilitating innovation and technology development.