After a thorough review, the Norwegian government has approved five applicants for the upcoming offshore wind auction round for Sørlige Nordsjø II (Southern North Sea II).
The consortia that qualified for the auction includes Aker Offshore Wind, BP and Statkraft; Equinor adn RWE; Norseman Wind, an Energie Baden-Württemberg (EnBw) subsidiary; Shell, Lyse and Eviny; and Ventyr, a Parkwind and Ingka venture.
The auction opens Monday, March 18, 2024, at 9 AM GMT +1/Norwegian time zone.
In the auction, the applicants will compete for state support by submitting increasingly lower bids until one bidder remains. The player with the lowest bid in øre/kWh wins the auction.
For competitive reasons, the bidding in the auction will be closed to the public. After the auction, the ministry will publish the name of the auction winner and the size of the winning bid, which determines the strike price that forms the basis of the two-way contract for difference.
"Today, we can announce that several strong applicants have been qualified to participate in the auction for offshore wind for Sørlige Nordsjø II. We have decided to proceed with the auction, which will begin on the 18th of March. I look forward to a good auction between these companies", says Minister of Energy Terje Aasland.
The Norwegian government has an ambition to award areas that have potential for 30 GW of offshore wind production by 2040.