Updated Announcement for Offshore Wind at Sørlige Nordsjø II and Utsira Nord

In the updated announcement for Sørlige Nordsjø II, the prequalification criteria for sustainability and positive ripple effects have been changed to minimum requirements that applicants must fulfil. These changes are necessary for ESA to be able to quickly approve the granting of state aid. The prequalification criterion for execution capability remains unchanged. 

’In our view, our original proposal is in line with state aid guidelines. We could have spent more time with ESA to gain acceptance for this view, but it would have significantly delayed the auction for Sørlige Nordsjø II. For the sake of progress, we therefore choose to adjust the prequalification criteria. I believe that we still take into account sustainability and positive ripple effects in a good way through a model with minimum requirements’, said Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Terje Aasland.

In the announcement of project areas at Utsira Nord, the model entails that project areas will be awarded based on qualitative criteria, and that competition for state aid will be carried out at a later stage as part of the concession process. The Ministry wants to spend some more time with ESA and the European Commission to make sure that these three areas can be awarded based on qualitative criteria with a competition for state aid at a later stage, as the government has presumed. This must be clarified before the Ministry can receive applications for project areas.

’We will develop offshore wind in a sustainable manner that creates positive ripple effects. This is an important part of the government's offshore wind effort. It will be beneficial for Norway, and for the development of offshore wind. Finding suitable models that contribute to the development of floating offshore wind is especially important. Consequently, we need sufficient assurance that the model for Utsira Nord is in line with state aid regulations so that we can receive applications and allocate project areas as soon as possible’, said Aasland.

These are the adjustments for Sørlige Nordsjø  II:

• The proposed prequalification criteria "sustainability" and "positive local ripple effects" are changed to minimum requirements that must be fulfilled in order for companies to participate in the competition. The minimum requirements will also be included as contract requirements in the differential contract.
• To clarify that the ripple effects are not limited to Norway, the headline for the criterion "positive local ripple effects" is changed to "positive ripple effects".
• Sustainability and positive ripple effects will no longer be prequalification criteria. This means that applicants will no longer be assessed against each other within these two categories.
• The application deadline is set for 15 November 2023.
• See press release with original announcement here: Announces the first competitions for offshore wind - regjeringen.no

These are the adjustments for Utsira Nord:

• The application deadline is postponed. The Ministry will announce a new deadline as soon as possible. The announcement will allow for sufficient time for all actors to update and submit their applications by the new deadline. The aim is for a new deadline during the first quarter of 2024.