The Norwegian offshore wind consortium Norseman Wind, together with the German energy giant EnBW, has decided to place its Norwegian development and operating organization for their offshore wind investment in Agder.
Kristiansand/Hamburg. “We have made a strategic decision that the development, operation, and maintenance of Southern North Sea II (Sørlige Nordsjø II) will be managed from Kristiansand. The Agder county, where Kristiansand is located, is a perfect location for our offshore wind investment. It is only a short distance from the Southern North Sea II. The location has good access to well-qualified labour, and the GCE Node cluster has many exciting supplier companies that we can collaborate with on the development”, says general manager at Norseman Wind, Atle Beisland, and head of offshore wind in EnBW, Holger Grubel.
Norseman Wind and EnBW plan to develop 1.5 GW of offshore wind on the Southern North Sea II. This will supply Norway with significant amounts of new renewable power, which is important at a time of energy scarcity and high prices.
Southern North Sea II is also a major industrial opportunity for the Agder region. The development will cost approximately NOK 35 billion (€3,5 billion), and the ambition is for at least 50 per cent of this to go to the Norwegian supplier industry. The technology and supplier companies in the Node cluster will have great opportunities here. The process of awarding the first contracts is already underway.
The development organization of Norseman Wind and EnBW will create several hundred skilled jobs related to operation and development in the Agder region, if rewarded area from the government. Kristiansand will be the head office for Norseman Wind and the Norwegian head office of EnBW, while Mandal might play an important role as a construction port. The first development phase on Southern North Sea II will have an annual operating and maintenance budget of NOK 600 - 800 million.
It is expected that the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy will announce the auction round for Southern North Sea II in the first quarter of 2023 and that a developer will be allocated land before the summer of next year.
“We believe that Norseman and EnBW's decision to move our development organization and head offices to Kristiansand will strengthen our chances of winning the auction”, say Beisland and Grubel.
