– Me er eit nisselueland – E24

– Of course, we should have wished the guide had arrived this fall as originally communicated. But we understand this is groundbreaking work, says Harald Dirdal at Norseman Wind.

He comments on a warning from the Ministry of Oil and Energy that there will be guidance on the application process related to offshore wind development during the spring. This is happening in relation to the Utsira Nord and Sørlige Nordsjø II area which will open for licensing from January 1.

Dirdal is one of the players who has announced that he will submit an application to expand Norwegian offshore wind power. He thinks it is positive that the ministry is saying something about when the supervisor will come.

On the ministry’s website, Minister Tina Bru also describes the development of regulations for offshore wind energy as groundbreaking work. The ministry has received many suggestions and therefore will need more time to prepare a guide.

– We insist that the area must be distributed before the summer of next year to maintain sensible progress, says Dirdal.

Strong competitors

– We would have liked to have seen the guide come earlier, but we are very happy that he comes. We experience that the ministry has very good speed and that they accept input, says Gunnar Birkeland, president of the Norwegian Offshore Wind Group.

According to Birkeland, the delay has nothing to say as long as area requests can be submitted before the guide arrives. He knows that between 10 and 12 Norwegian players want to apply, a greater number than he has seen before.

Birkeland believes that it is particularly important for Norway to play a leading role in the latest technology for floating offshore wind turbines, as bottom-set offshore wind power is already dominated by players from other countries.

– It is extremely important that one follow the plan. With the January announcement, construction won’t start until 2025 at the earliest. So South Korea and perhaps also Scotland are ahead of us, says Birkeland, who also sees Spain and France as strong competitors.

He wants a goal in gigawatts

Birkeland also notes that during the spring of 2021, the government will present a report to the Storting on value creation from Norwegian energy resources. Offshore wind power will be one of the topics.

– Along with the opening of the field, this is the most important thing we have seen before from floating offshore wind. We have lacked a clear Norwegian ambition on how much offshore wind we will develop.

It points out that the UK has set a goal of expanding 40 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030, and that the EU will harvest 450 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2040.

– In Norway, we have opened at 4.5 gigawatts, but we have not seen similar long-term goals. We are a country of Santa Claus that is little spread in many development programs instead of investing a lot, says Birkeland.

Based on the European target, Birkeland believes that Norway should be able to aim for 30 gigawatts. In that case, many more areas will be discussed than the two that are now being announced.

– We note that the resistance of wind energy on land is transmitted to the sea. These things must be answered with facts.

The Institute for Marine Research is currently releasing a report noting that there is very little knowledge about the effect of offshore wind farms on marine life.

– The institute will always say that there is a lack of knowledge. That is what they live on. But the wind farm takes this seriously too and works on the basis of facts. We must work together to produce food and energy from the sea. It’s me and the dependent world.

Birkeland notes that an environmentally friendly energy research center will be established to help close the knowledge gap.