Equinor, RWE and Hydro team up for Norwegian offshore wind

Offshore wind developers Equinor and RWE Renewables have joined forces with Norway’s Hydro REIN to submit an application to develop a fixed-bottom offshore wind farm in the Sørlige Nordsjø II area of the Norwegian North Sea.

Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy is going through the licensing process for two areas it has earmarked for offshore wind development — 2250MW Utsira Nord Utsira Nord (2250MW) Offshoreoff Haugesund, Rogaland, Norway, Europe Click to see full details and 2250MW Sørlige Nordsjø II Sørlige Nordsjø II (2250MW) OffshoreNorway, Europe Click to see full details.

The Sørlige Nordsjø II area has excellent wind resources and water depths of 53-70 metres, making it a high-potential site for offshore wind development.

“A large-scale offshore wind farm at Sørlige Nordsjø II could play a key role in expanding the North Sea as an offshore energy hub and create new industrial opportunities for Norway as an energy nation,” said Pål Eitrheim, Equinor’s executive vice president for new energy solutions.

Arvid Moss, executive vice president of Hydro REIN’s umbrella company Hydro Energy, added: “For Hydro, this cooperation is part of our strategy to diversify and explore growth opportunities in new energy.”

Hydro Energy has extensive experience in large-scale project execution in the hydropower sector. Its participation in the partnership will be through a newly established subsidiary for renewables development, Hydro REIN.

Equinor and RWE jointly developed the 385MW Arkona Arkona (385MW) Offshorenorth-east of Rügen, Germany, Europe Click to see full details offshore wind farm in the German Baltic Sea, which was commissioned in 2019.

Equinor partnered with Norwegian company Vårgrønn earlier this month to prepare a floating offshore wind bid for Utsira Nord.