Eni and Equinor target offshore wind project offshore Norway

Equinor and Vårgrønn, the Norwegian renewable energy company established by Eni and HitecVision, are planning to jointly prepare and submit an application to the Norwegian authorities to develop floating offshore wind at Utsira Nord in the Norwegian North Sea.

The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has opened two areas for offshore renewables – Utsira Nord and Sørlige Nordsjø II.

‘The North Sea has some of the world’s best wind resources. A floating offshore wind farm at Utsira Nord could be the next project at scale to drive industrialisation of floating offshore wind and create new opportunities for Norwegian industry. Together with Vårgrønn, we are eager to contribute to a new chapter in Norway’s energy legacy and position floating offshore wind as a new industry contributing to the energy transition. As the leading floating offshore wind developer, Equinor has the experience and capabilities necessary to develop the next full-scale floating offshore wind farm in Norway after Hywind Tampen,’ says Executive Vice President for New Energy Solutions in Equinor, Pål Eitrheim.

‘This project will be essential for Vårgrønn development and for our ambition to achieve 1 GW of installed capacity by 2030. Developing a home market for offshore wind power, particularly floating, will be crucial for developing the Norwegian industry in this sector and for positioning new technologies in a growing global market,’ adds Olav Hetland, CEO, Vårgrønn.

With more than a decade of operating experience from floating offshore wind, Equinor is the world’s leading floating offshore wind developer, with a number of floating wind turbines already deployed and in production. The company claims to have brought down the cost for each floating offshore wind project it has developed – between the Hywind demonstration project in 2009 and Hywind Scotland in 2017, it reduced capex per megawatt by 70%. Equinor also reports that when the Hywind Tampen project in the Norwegian North Sea starts up next year, it is aiming to reduce costs further, by more than 40%.

See Petroleum Review’s May 2021 issue for more on floating offshore wind.

Hywind Scotland
Photo: Equinor/Øyvind Gravås