Ocean Winds has pulled out of a three-company consortium due to bid in Norway’s upcoming floating wind tender, the second company exit the partnership.
The move has now left Norwegian state power group Statkraft without any bidding partners for the 1.5GW Utsira Nord auction after Mainstream Renewable Power parent Aker earlier left the team-up.
“Ocean Winds has informed Statkraft of its decision to prioritise other opportunities in its portfolio and will not participate in the upcoming Utsira Nord auction in Norway,” said the company in a statement to reNEWS.
Repeating Ocean Winds’ statement, Statkraft added it “is assessing options to participate and succeed in the Utsira Nord licence allocation”.
The tender has been hit with a series of delays, and in March of this year the Norwegian Ministry of Energy put back the tender to 2025.
Energy Minister Terje Aasland said at the time: "We are concerned with building a solid foundation for floating offshore wind that will stand up.
"I hope that the notification can be approved before the turn of the year, and want to make arrangements so that we can allocate project areas in Utsira Nord in 2025."
