Wind

Statkraft CEO sees offshore wind build in Ireland before Norway as 'projects more mature'

Utility's Norwegian home market behind peers on wind at sea development but could still end up as major generator thanks to advanced technology, says Christian Rynning-Tønnesen

Statkraft CEO Christian Rynning-Tønnesen
Statkraft CEO Christian Rynning-TønnesenFoto: Statkraft
Norwegian renewables giant Statkraft as part of its strategy to add 30GW of generation capacity by 2030 plans to take part in offshore wind auctions next year in both Norway and Ireland, but chief executive Christian Rynning-Tønnesen told Recharge construction is set to start much earlier off the Emerald Isle.

“Even if the auction is in the same year in Ireland and Norway, then I would expect development to happen much faster in Ireland because the projects are more mature,” he said in an exclusive interview.

Just how fast Irish offshore wind projects could be operational depends on the auction design, on which Statkraft has no exact dates yet.

“But it will be within a few years [that] we can start constructing [in Ireland], not many years,” Rynning-Tønnesen said.

Statkraft and its partners have development rights to three large projects off Ireland with a combined size of 1.2 gigawatts. The furthest developed is the North Irish Sea Array, which consists of a core area (NISA1) and an expansion project (NISA2).

The CEO revealed that Statkraft also is developing a third area in the Irish Sea called Bore Array.

Late offshore start for Norway
In its Norwegian home market, Statkraft together with Aker Offshore Wind (AOW) and the Ocean Winds joint venture of EDPR and Engie is planning to take part in a licensing round for the deep water 1.5GW Utsira North floating wind zone, which the government last month said it is planning to allocate using ‘qualitative criteria’.
The company also is preparing for a joint bid with AOW and oil supermajor BP for the shallower Southern North Sea (Sørlige Nordsjø 2) zone further south, which Oslo plans to tender off in two tranches of 1.5GW each – with the first auction foreseen for early 2023.
There has been some disappointment in the industry – given Norway’s target to develop 30GW of wind at sea by 2040 – that the government doesn’t proceed at a faster pace with the initial licensing of 4.5GW in capacity at the Utsira North and Southern North Sea zones, but Rynning-Tønnesen thinks the country’s 2040 ambition is still “good and realistic.”

“Norway is behind other European countries, but we are coming in to the offshore wind industry at a point in time when technology is quite mature, and turbines are large,” he said.

“So I think we could be a significant or very large offshore wind producer with very modern technology although we are coming in later than the others.”

Not ruling out offshore Sweden

Statkraft as part of its strategy update in offshore wind plans to concentrate on its “neighbourhood” – meaning Norway and Ireland.

“We don’t have a plan to go to [mainland] Europe or the world in offshore. We need to learn the technology first.”

Having said that, the CEO added he “would not rule out Sweden” for offshore wind in the future.

Offshore wind developers such as OX2, Statkraft's Swedish peer Vattenfall or Simply Blue are currently queuing up for permits with gigawatt-scale plans for Norway’s direct neighbour Sweden as the government in Stockholm is trying to speed up permitting and plans to waive most of grid connection costs at sea for operators.
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Published 28 June 2022, 12:51Updated 28 June 2022, 15:32
EuropeNorwayStatkraftChristian Rynning-TønnesenOffshore wind