Intervju

"Both Norway and France are in the forefront of developing floating offshore wind"

The CCFN opens its doors to Arvid Nesse, Cluster Manager at Norwegian Offshore Wind.

The Norwegian government has announced an objective of 30 GW of offshore wind capacity to be allocated by 2040. How would you describe the main current trends on the Norwegian Offshore Wind market?  

There is a great interest for offshore wind in Norway at the moment. We have a very strong oil and gas industry in Norway, but this industry is very well aware of the ongoing green transition. And they observe that there is a possible market and a need for their competence in offshore wind. Especially floating offshore wind, where Norway is already pioneers.

The floating area Utsira Nord with 1500 MW and Sørlige Nordsjø 2 with 1500 MW are expected to be announced within end of March this year with an application deadline during summer 2023. Areas will be awarded this year. There is also an ongoing process to define areas for the next upcoming announcements. A report about this will be published during April this year.

France also has an ambitious energy roadmap for the next decade. What is NOW’s perspective on the French offshore wind market?  

In Norwegian Offshore Wind we have France as one of our top priority markets. This is related to this ambitious roadmap and the fact that both countries have a deep-water coastline where it is expected that the majority of offshore wind installations will be floating. Norwegian and French companies also have collaborated in the oil and gas industry the last 50 years. And both countries have many experienced companies.

In which areas do you see a potential for more cooperation between Norwegian and French actors?  

Both Norway and France are in the forefront of developing floating offshore wind. I see a potential for more cooperation related to development of floaters, mooring solutions and grid. In Norwegian Offshore Wind we already have a collaboration with four French clusters and these ties will provide a good starting point for finding partners and set up collaboration between companies in the clusters. 

The French-Norwegian Chamber of Commerce is organizing a Business Expedition on offshore wind for French companies in September (6-7). The delegation will be visiting you in Haugesund, meeting the local ecosystem and visiting the MetCentre floating windmills. Could you tell us more about what the French companies joining this trip can expect? 

The West coast of Norway is the center of the Norwegian Oil and Gas industry. The French companies will meet many companies with a high competence from the ocean industry and who are eager to partner up with French companies. They will also get an introduction to METCentre where we during 2025 will expand to 8 turbines with different technologies. On the delegation visit in September, we will arrange a boat trip to the two turbines currently installed. The delegation will be able to see the world´s first floating turbine up close.