Norway's Deep Wind bags Estonia offshore rights after no-contest tender
Deep Wind Offshore was the only bidder in the first leg of a phased tender offering offshore wind acreage west of Saaremaa Island.
Norway's Deep Wind Offshore has emerged as the winner of Estonia's Saare 2.1 offshore wind development area, and did so with an uncontested bid.
The winning bid was submitted at the starting price of €2.5m ($2.6m), according to a statement released by Estonia’s Consumer Protection and Technical Regulation Authority (CPTRA).
As the winner of the auction, Deep Wind can now commence with the development of an offshore wind farm in the 164 square kilometre Saare 2.1 area, located 30km west of Saaremaa Island in water depths of 29-66 metres. The process begins with licence proceedings and environmental impact assessment.
The applications submitted by Deep Wind Offshore state that the development will feature up to 98 wind turbines with a total capacity of up to 1.56GW.
In its own statement, Deep Wind Offshore said the company was "thrilled to have been awarded a GW size site in the latest auction" and described the location as offering "favourable wind conditions for efficient energy production".
"Estonia is turning ambitions into action, and we are really excited to have been awarded this site. Deep Wind Offshore will contribute to the country reaching its climate goals, providing energy security, building value chains, and creating new jobs," commented Knut Vassbotn, the company's CEO.
The Norwegian company plans to developing more than 10GW of offshore wind capacity within 10 years.
"This means both continuing to develop projects in our core markets and to exploit opportunities in new markets. With this award, Estonia is set to become a core market” Vassbotn said.
Deep Wind's current pipeline includes offshore wind projects in Norway, Sweden, and South Korea, but the company says its efforts to strengthen its project pipeline meant is active in other emerging markets.
In April, deadlines were reached for submitting applications for the construction of offshore wind farms in the Saare 2.1, Saare 2.2 and Saare 3 areas.
The process revealed that a unit of Estonia's Ignitis renewables and Utilitas Wind were in contention with Deep Wind for the Saare 2.1 and Saare 2.2 areas, with Sunly Wind also named as a potential competitor for the much smaller Saare 3 area.
A tender for the Saare 2.2 area is due to take place from 26-28 June.