Today, Friday April 8, the Norwegian government presents its heralded energy policy following plans revealed last year, emphasizing the importance of energy for Norway as a nation.

”Access to plentiful volumes of clean and affordable energy has been Norwegian industry’s primary advantage as well as a benefit for Norwegian households. In the future, the government also wants to maintain this advantage as a contributor to value creation, employment and industrial growth throughout the country,” says Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy Terje Aasland in a statement.

Observers have eagerly awaited what the new energy announcement will mean for Norwegian offshore wind. Aasland highlights four central points:

• Optimize the concession process to have the first offshore wind project in operation before 2030
• Permit use of qualitative criteria for Utsira Nord
• Expedite initiation of preliminary assessments
• Ensure that rate payers don’t bear the cost burden of investments in network infrastructure for the first projects

Auctions as main allocator

The energy policy document reveals that qualitative criteria for Utsira Nord will be permitted. For Sørlige Nordsjø II and in future announced areas, auctions will be the primary method for allocating sites for renewable energy generation pursuant to national legislation on marine energy. The final proposal for the auction model will be sent to public consultation prior to allocation.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy acknowledges that public consultation input is almost exclusively negative regarding the use of auctions for allotting sites within Sørlige Nordsjø II – but the authority nevertheless stands firm in its conviction of the regime’s merit, while also vowing to continue efforts to reduce uncertainty tied to setting up offshore grid connections.

”The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy is firmly committed to using auctions as the main model for allocating areas for renewable energy generation at sea, but concedes that qualitative criteria can be used in special cases,” the government notes in the document.

There’s been a degree of uncertainty connected to prequalification criteria for parties seeking offshore wind licenses, and several points made at public hearings have indicated that it’s natural for player to form consortia for such purposes. The ministry says it’s sufficient that companies collectively comply with regulations within consortia.

Identifying new areas will take years

As previously reported by EnergyWatch, the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has tasked the Norwegian Water and Energy Resources Directorate (NVE) with identifying new areas suited for offshore turbines. The ministry writes that the plan is to facilitate repeated rounds of opening and allocation in coming years to ensure long-term focus on offshore.

In the chapter on areas at sea, the government points out that this process will take time. NVE will need approximately a year to identify the areas, followed by one or perhaps one and half years of impact assessment analyses. After this come consultations with the Norwegian king in the Council of State before the new areas can be inaugurated.

Studies of radial and hybrid cables required

Statnett will be responsible for planning the development of the offshore wind network. The report further establishes that the first part of Sørlige Nordsjø II will open with radial connections, which are solely able to transmit power from offshore wind to Norway and that the network solution for the other parts will be determined after evaluating the impact of various solutions on the Norwegian electricity system.

The energy report especially emphasizes that studying the use of radial or hybrid connections could have significant influence on the power system and that the government must therefore await NVE’s and RME’s findings before making a final decision.

Energy Norway not pleased

Lobby group Energy Norway is displeased with the government’s proposal on wind at sea in the energy report. They call the bet on offshore a light breeze.

”We’re disappointed that the government’s isn’t using this opportunity to put more emphasis on the offshore efforts, presented earlier this year. It’s good that allocations of sites will start rolling, but Norway risks staying a lightweight compared to our neighboring countries,” says CEO of Energy Norway Knut Kroepelien.

Energy Norway refers to the fact that Norway’s concrete efforts in this arena have stagnated at 4.5GW, while countries such as Sweden, Germany and the UK have offshore wind ambitions that are upwards of ten times higher.

The organization is also disappointed that the government is so reticent about betting on hybrid cables and hybrid network, pointing out that the possibility of exporting wind power from wind at sea makes up a crucial part of its potential.

”Hybrid networks have become a difficult subject within the government. But there are several ways to solve this so as to to ensure access to more renewable energy at competitive prices in Norway, at the same time as we set up connections to more markets and thereby make offshore wind more profitable for everyone involved,” says Kroepelin.

(Editorial note: All citations translated from Norwegian)
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