Join the Webinar:
This webinar will be hosted on zoom.
Join here: https://uio.zoom.us/j/65072662912
Documentation on how to use Zoom can be found here: Video Meetings and digital lectures - University of Oslo (uio.no)
About the webinar:
This bilateral webinar will resort to a comparative approach to the status quo of floating offshore wind permitting procedures between Norway (auction is underway) and Portugal (auction is expected to be launched in Q4/2023). It will bring together the views of public entities, industry stakeholders and academia on a specific set of pre-identified questions, including auction criteria, allocated capacity, support scheme, grid connection and co-existence. Q&A will follow the discussion between speakers.
General background in Norway and Portugal:
On March 29th, 2023, the Norwegian Government announced the launch of Norway's first offshore wind tenders in the areas of Sørlige Nordsjø II (both floating and bottom-fixed) and Utsira Nord (floating), with the goal of allocating areas for 30,000 MW offshore wind by 2040, almost equivalent to a doubling of the country’s total production. The application deadline has recently been postponed to 1 November 2023, awaiting for state aid approval by the EFTA Surveillance Authority.
Source: The Norwegian government announces the first competitions for for offshore wind.
In May 2023, the Portuguese government announced that the country’s first auction of licenses will be launched by the end of the year, with the goal of building a total installed capacity of more than 1 GW. Due to deep depth, the auction will be for floating wind farms with turbines installed in deep sea. With the potential opening of five new areas along the Altantic coast, Portugal ambitions to build 10 GW of installed capacity by 2030. As per August 2023, the auctions are still expected to be launched in Q4/2023. However, the tender criteria are yet to be finalized.
Source: Portugal's first offshore wind auction aims for more than 1 GW.
Bilateral contacts
Bilateral contacts have taken place during 2023, both at an official level and a commercial level, including the visit of a Portuguese delegation to Norway in June, and the forthcoming visit of a Norwegian delegation to Portugal in the second half of September. To complete the exchange of views across jurisdictions, the University of Oslo and the Catholic University of Portugal have joined forces to provide an academic perspective to the current design of floating offshore wind auctions and permitting rules.
Participants:
Introductory remarks:
Mrs. Karina Asbjørnsen, Royal Norwegian Embassy in Lisbon, Chargé d'Affaires.
Moderator:
John Olav Tande, NorthWind Centre Director.
Speakers:
Norway, Ministry of Petroleum and Energy: Bastian Jansen
Norway, ‘Norwegian Offshore Wind’: Einar Tollaksvik (SagaSubsea, CEO)
Norway, University of Oslo: Catherine Banet (Professor, Head of of the Energy and Resources Law Department)
Portugal, Mainstream Renewable Power (Aker Horizons): Paula Velmans (Project Manager Offshore Wind)
Portugal, Universidade Católica Portuguesa (Lisbon): Nuno Antunes (Guest Professor in Energy Law)
Organizers:
The webinar is co-organised by the University of Oslo, Department of Energy and Resources Law, and the Catholic University of Portugal (Lisbon), in collaboration with the Norwegian Research Centre on Wind Energy (NorthWind).