Norwegian authorities have received two applications for floating wind projects in the Utsira Nord area.

The first application is from the partnership of Equinor and Vårgrønn, while the second came from Harald Hårfagre, a consortium consisting of Deep Wind Offshore and EDF Renewables.

The Norwegian Ministry of Energy launched the competition for the allocation of floating offshore wind project areas in Utsira Nord earlier this year. The ministry offered three sites with a project capacity of 500MW each.

Applicants must meet qualification requirements and will be evaluated on cost level, maturity, innovation, technology development, implementation capacity, sustainability, and positive ripple effects.

The ministry stated that it would award the project areas in the first half of 2026 and will now begin the process of evaluating the applications. The competitive tender for state aid is expected to be held in 2028/29.

The participants who do not win the support competition will be able to apply for an extension of their exclusive rights to the project area.

“Offshore wind is one of the government’s priority areas to ensure sufficient power in the years ahead. In a development phase, the build-out of floating offshore wind in Utsira Nord will be important for technology development and cost reductions,” said Terje Aasland, Norway’s Minister of Energy.

The Norwegian government aims to allocate areas for 30GW of offshore wind production by 2040.

Even though the two applications are enough to make the round valid, there have been a large number of companies that announced they would be pulling out of the round since 2023.