NORWAY Law and Practice Contributed by: Robin Aker Jakobsen, Amund Fougner Bugge, Jan Magne Langseth and Stig Walle, Simonsen Vogt Wiig
Simonsen Vogt Wiig Filipstad Brygge 1 0125 Oslo Norway Tel: +47 21 95 55 00 Email: post.oslo@svw.no Web: www.svw.no
There has been continued low development activ- ity within the onshore wind power segment. This is mainly due to local opposition to such projects. The local municipalities will benefit from production taxes, property tax, and a part of the ground rent tax related to wind power farms. There is a tendency for a more positive approach from the municipalities, but it remains to be seen if the legislative amendments will lead to increased development activity (see 1.2 Energy and Infrastructure Trends ). 1.2 Energy and Infrastructure Trends In Norway, the most significant structural trend in the past year is that decision-making authority for new renewable energy development – particularly onshore wind – is increasingly being anchored at the municipal level through the Planning and Building Act. As of 1 July 2023, the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate ( Norges Vassdrags- og Ener- gidirektorat , or NVE) may no longer grant licences under the Norwegian Energy Act (NEA) without a pri- or municipal zoning clarification. This means that the developer must have an area regulation plan in place before the NVE can grant a facility licence. The government’s joint guidance from the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development and the Ministry of Energy (27 August 2024) clarifies this process. The NVE has followed up with thematic guid- ance on the two parallel processes. In practice, this may in some cases halt onshore wind initiatives and introduce some additional process risks for ground-mounted solar projects ‒ in particu- lar, where local interests related to land use, nature
1. Market Trends 1.1 Energy and Infrastructure M&A Market In Norway, the energy and infrastructure M&A market has maintained a reasonable level of activity for the past 12 months, driven both by domestic and interna- tional parties participating in a number of substantial transactions. A notable trend is the exit of international institutional capital, which played a key role in the development of several onshore wind power projects in Norway. These investors are now selling the fully developed wind power companies to large regional Norwegian power companies. Project areas for offshore wind at Utsira Nord (floating offshore wind) and Sørlige Nordsjø II (bottom-fixed) have been announced the past couple of years. Ventyr SN II AS won the auction related to Sørlige Nordsjø II and will be awarded a project area and thereby a time- limited exclusive right to conduct a project-specific impact assessment, as well as to apply for a licence pursuant to the Offshore Energy Act. In September 2025, the Ministry of Energy received two applications for the award of project areas for floating offshore wind in Utsira Nord. The interest related to both Sørlige Nordsjø II and Utsira Nord has been limited owing to increased costs of capital, infla- tionary pressure on material prices, substantial qualifi- cation requirements for applicants, and technological uncertainty in combination with a fixed cap on the state aid support regimes related to the projects.
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