Power giants lead rival consortia into Norwegian floating offshore wind tender

The power companies that have bid in what is planned to be Norway’s first commercial scale floating offshore wind development have now been revealed.

After the application deadline for Utsira Nord expired at midday Norwegian time, the country’s Ministry of Energy confirmed that two consortia have submitted applications: Equinor and Vårgrønn on the one hand and EDF and Deep Wind Offshore on the other.

Since two consortia have submitted applications, a competition for state support can be held later. At least two applicants were required to conduct such a competition.

The applicants are competing for three project areas in a competition assessed based on so-called qualitative criteria. These include cost level and maturity, execution capability, sustainability, technology development, and positive ripple effects.

Since two applications have been submitted for a total of three project areas, both are likely to receive one area each. The applicant who scores the highest on the criteria will get to choose their area first.

More than ten potential consortia withdrew before the application deadline. The Norwegian power company Å Energi was not among those who withdrew prematurely, but ultimately did not apply. After its partner Corio Generation withdrew, Å Energi could no longer meet the requirements to participate.

The Utsira Wind consortium also did not submit an application. The consortium had long been considered a strong contender, but one month ago confirmed that it did not meet all the requirements.

Closed Auction

The actual awarding of project areas is scheduled for the first half of 2026. After that comes the competition for state support.

The support framework is 35 billion NOK ($3.6bn) and could, in principle, apply to the entire Vestavind F and Vestavind B fields. However, the consensus is that the support will realistically only cover one project area at Utsira Nord.

The project areas should have an installed capacity as close to 500MW as possible, but not exceed 500MW.

Unlike the area allocation competition, the competition for state support will be based solely on price.

The competition will be conducted as a sealed-bid auction, where each bidder can submit only one bid. The bidder offering the lowest support per MW wins. It will not be possible to bid above the maximum limit for state support.

More detailed rules for this competition will be published well in advance of the event.

The state support will be awarded as an investment grant, paid out entirely during the investment and construction phase. The operation itself will take place without state subsidies, unlike the contract-for-difference model used in Sørlige Nordsjø II.

Those who are awarded a project area but do not receive state support will be able to apply for an extension of their exclusive rights to the area.