Corio Generation, an offshore wind portfolio company of Macquarie’s Green Investment Group (GIG), and Norwegian renewable energy business Å Energi have announced Nordvegen Vind, the name for their joint venture aiming to deliver the country’s first grid-scale floating offshore wind farm.
Nordvegen Vind is targeting Utsira Nord, a deep water site off the southwest coast of Norway and one of two areas the Norwegian government has opened to licensing applications, with 1.5 GW available in an initial round of development.
Nordvegen is the name for the old shipping route which for more than 3,000 years has been a gateway for maritime trade and laid the foundation for Norway’s coastal development.
The Norwegian North Sea is seen as a prime spot for developing some of Europe’s first commercial-scale floating wind projects. The country has set a target of 30 GW from offshore wind by 2040, with Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre having declared the government’s intention to “develop Norway as an offshore wind nation”.
Corio Generation, and Å Energi are also part of the separate Brigg Vind consortium which is targeting awards for fixed offshore wind Sørlige Nordsjø II, in the Southern part of the North Sea.
Recent advances in floating technology mean countries with much deeper coastal waters, where it would have previously been impossible to building conventional fixed foundation offshore windfarms, can now install innovative floating wind platforms to harness their ocean wind resources. By 2050, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has estimated that floating wind farms could cover around 5% to 15% of global offshore wind installed capacity.
