The EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) has approved a State aid scheme for developing a floating offshore wind farm on the Norwegian continental shelf.
The aid scheme aims to support the development of a new, floating offshore wind farm in Utsira Nord, located in the North Sea, off the coast of Rogaland County.
The wind farm will increase renewable energy production in Norway, support electrification, and cut fossil fuel dependency in transport, industry, and business. It will therefore aid Norway in reaching its emission-reduction targets and will contribute to European emission reductions. Norway participates in the EU’s internal energy market through the European Economic Area (EEA) agreement. It is also part of the Nordic power market and integrated into the wider European market through interconnectors.
The aid will be administered by the Norwegian Ministry of Energy and has a total budget of NOK 35 billion (€2.95 billion). The aid will be granted in the form of a direct grant.
The award of project areas in Utsira Nord and the granting of State aid will follow a two-step model. In the first step, the Ministry will announce a qualitative competition for the award of project areas. Following this, in the second step, the Ministry will conduct a State aid auction set to take place in 2028 – 2029. The aid will be granted to the bidder willing to realise the project with the lowest amount of State aid per megawatt.
ESA has approved the aid scheme under the Guidelines on State aid for climate, environmental protection and energy (CEEAG), concluding that it is in line with EEA rules on State aid.
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