Norway Directs $428.29 Million to Four Floating Wind Turbines off Karmøy

Enova has allocated USD 428.29 million in support to two companies that will each install two large floating offshore wind turbines at the METCentre demonstration facility off Karmøy in Rogaland. Fortius Offshore Wind AS receives USD 217.42 million, while Fram Wind Solutions AS is awarded USD 210.89 million.

The funding runs over the next five years and is disbursed only if the projects are actually carried out. Together, the four turbines will generate 300 million kilowatt hours of energy per year, equivalent to the annual consumption of around 15,000 households. Each unit has a power output of 18.5 megawatts, meaning the four floating turbines combined correspond to roughly 20 average onshore wind turbines.

Cutting costs at the demonstration site

The stated purpose of the installations is to test and showcase new technology that can make it cheaper to produce energy from floating offshore wind. The companies will demonstrate technologies for floating foundations for large turbines, how these foundations are anchored, and how the installations are built and operated. According to Enova, these are among the most important areas where costs must come down for floating offshore wind to become profitable.

The awards were made through a competition. The two winning projects were selected on the basis of the amount of energy produced per support krone, the technology's potential for spread, its climate footprint, its impact on biodiversity, and how promising the projects are for delivering low future costs. Enova's chief executive, Evy Glørstad, framed the potential of the initiative in broader terms.

"If it succeeds in making offshore wind technology profitable enough, it will be a big step towards being able to build out renewable power at large scale more quickly. Both Norwegian industry and the transport sector need this to reduce their climate emissions," she said.

Enova's assessment of Norway's position

Enova sees significant potential in the award and describes the development of Norway's floating offshore wind effort as demanding pioneering work. The agency points to particular national advantages. "Norway has particularly good conditions for building out floating offshore wind, because we have a strong maritime industry and large sea areas where it blows a lot," said Oskar Gärdeman, Enova's offshore wind lead.

International context for the technology

The Norwegian support comes amid a major international push for floating offshore wind, particularly in Europe and Asia. Both France and the United Kingdom have been investing heavily in the technology in recent years through larger competitions and the tendering of areas for development. This summer, France set aside USD 70.58 billion to build out floating and bottom-fixed offshore wind over the next 25 years.

The European Commission has designated floating offshore wind as an important part of Europe's energy mix towards 2050. Cost expectations for the technology are also part of the picture. According to a report Enova produced earlier this year on an assignment from the Ministry of Energy, market players estimate that with a successful global build-out of floating offshore wind, energy could be produced at as low as one krone per kilowatt hour.

Who Enova is

Enova works for Norway's transition to a low-emission society, working to ensure that new energy and climate technology is developed and brought into use in the market. Enova SF is located in Trondheim and has around 120 employees. The company is owned by the Ministry of Climate and Environment. The award to Fortius Offshore Wind AS and Fram Wind Solutions AS ties public funding directly to execution, with disbursement conditional on the projects proceeding.

The installations at METCentre off Karmøy will add four floating offshore wind turbines with a combined output of 74 megawatts to the demonstration facility, with the explicit aim of lowering the cost of producing energy from floating offshore wind. For the companies involved, the support provides the financial basis to build and operate their respective two-turbine installations over the next five years.

For Enova, the competition format was designed to identify the projects that deliver the most energy per support krone while holding promise for low future costs and limited impact on biodiversity. The Karmøy facility will thus host technology testing on floating foundations, anchoring solutions, and construction and operation of large floating turbines — the areas Enova identifies as decisive for whether floating offshore wind can become profitable at scale.

The 18.5 megawatt turbines to be installed are described as large offshore wind turbines, and their combined annual production of 300 million kilowatt hours matches the consumption of around 15,000 households. Glørstad's comments underline the linkage between the demonstration projects and the wider build-out of renewable power: making offshore wind technology profitable enough, in her assessment, would be a big step towards faster large-scale deployment that Norwegian industry and the transport sector need to reduce their climate emissions.

With France committing USD 70.58 billion over 25 years to floating and bottom-fixed offshore wind, and the European Commission positioning floating offshore wind within Europe's 2050 energy mix, the Norwegian award positions the METCentre demonstration facility within a broader international effort, one in which Enova's report for the Ministry of Energy suggests production costs could eventually fall to as low as one krone per kilowatt hour under a successful global build-out.