Norway will now focus on floating offshore wind turbines instead of the new bottom-fixed tender

Norway said that it will not be offering acreage for the development of bottom-fixed offshore farms when it announces its next tenders. Instead, it will focus on floating wind power options.

The government has previously stated that it will offer new areas along the North Sea, bordering Denmark, suitable for installing turbines on seabeds. These areas may also be connected to other countries through hybrid cables.

Terje Aasland, Energy Minister Terje's statement said: "We do not believe it is the right time to plan hybrid cables at this point in time." He cited high costs and the absence of a European framework on hybrid connections.

He added that a study by grid operator Statnett showed that the government would need to support the building of the area called Soervest F, regardless of whether or not the wind farms were connected only to Norway or other markets.

Aasland said that he is sceptical about further exposing the Norwegian energy system to challenges on other markets, such as Germany.

Minister said that the government would instead prioritize floating offshore wind farms with a single-point connection to Norway.

Norway's domestic electricity generation is dominated largely by hydropower, which is cheap and abundant. However, the price of electricity in Norway has increased in response to the European energy crisis of 2022.

These connections, which link Germany, Britain and the Netherlands with subsea cable links, have been blamed as a net exporter.

Lifting prices

domestically.

The country's tender for the year was held in November.

The offshore wind farm Soerlige Nordsjoe 2, located in an area that is now being scrapped to be developed immediately, (Reporting and editing by Terje Solsvik, Nora Buli)

(source: Reuters)