The Norwegian government has launched a competition for three project sites in the Utsira Nord area, each with the potential to host up to 500MW of floating offshore wind capacity.
The government will allocate project areas and provide state support in a two-stage process, including a maturation phase.
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In the initial stage, three project areas will be awarded to players securing the highest score based on the following qualitative criteria: cost, realism and maturity; innovation and technology development; execution capability; sustainability, and positive ripple effects.
The application deadline is 15 September 2025, and awards are anticipated in the first half of 2026.
After a maturation phase, the government will carry out a competition for state aid. To qualify, developers are required to have submitted a licence application and provided a bank guarantee.
The auction will only be held if at least two bidders meet the requirements. The winner must develop a project as close to 500MW as possible, based on the selected turbine size.
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By GlobalDataState aid will be awarded to one applicant – the lowest bidder.
Applicants will not be allowed to bid higher than the upper limit for state funding of NOK35bn ($3.4bn), as established by the Norwegian parliament.
Norway Minister of Energy Terje Aasland said: “This marks an important step forward for the government’s offshore wind initiative. In addition to providing power to a region with high electricity demand, the announcement presents significant opportunities for new contracts for the supplier industry.”
Utsira Nord is situated offshore Rogaland in the west of the country, and was opened for offshore renewable energy production on 12 June 2020.
Norway has set high targets for offshore wind, aiming to allocate areas for up to 30GW of production by 2040.
