NORWAY Trends and Developments Contributed by: Jøran Sandvik, Ida Mattsson Sperre and Aksel Tannum, Advokatfirmaet Haavind AS
develop offshore wind in SN II. The winning bid in the auction was NOK115 øre/kWh, forming part of the contract for difference (CfD) that was later entered into between Ventyr SN II AS and the Norwegian state on 19 April 2024. Utsira North The Norwegian government opened three “pro- ject areas” within Utsira North (UN) for floating projects on 19 May 2025, each consisting of 500 MW. The Norwegian government intends to award the project areas in the first half of 2026. The deadline for applications to UN project areas is 15 September 2025. The government’s sup- port scheme for UN amounts to NOK35 billion, and the notification process for the EFTA Surveil- lance Authority (ESA) was finalised, with approv- al from ESA, in April 2025. The players that are awarded the project areas within UN will have to apply for a licence pursuant to the Offshore Energy Act Section 3-1 and put forth a bank guarantee in order to participate in the competi- tion for state aid. State aid will only be given to the project that requires the least amount of support in the competition for state aid. Several offshore wind players have already stated that they will not apply for the UN project areas, fol- lowing increasing costs for offshore wind, and it remains to be seen how many applications for the UN projects areas the Ministry of Energy (MoE) will receive. Further i nformation on Norway’s offshore wind production can be found online. Onshore Wind As of July 2023, The Energy Act and the Plan- ning and Building Act were amended with the aim of improving the licensing process for onshore wind projects. Before the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) can conclude on a licence application pursu-
ant to the Energy Act, an onshore wind project must secure a positive local planning decision from the relevant municipality. The objective is to strengthen the role of municipalities in the licens- ing process for onshore wind, to reduce the level of conflict, thereby laying the foundation for fur- ther expansion of onshore wind power, including by enhancing the power balance and achieving national climate goals. Despite the legislative changes, there has not yet been a marked increase in the number of wind power projects reported to the NVE, or applied for. Nevertheless, there has been a noticeable uptick in activity, particularly in Finnmark, where the NVE approved study programmes for 11 new wind power projects in April 2025. How- ever, several municipalities have adopted a prin- cipled stance against wind power plants within their jurisdictions, leading to rejections of such projects. This resistance highlights ongoing dis- cussions regarding the need for further regula- tory adjustments to address municipal concerns and facilitate project approvals. The balance between national objectives and local interests will be pivotal in shaping the future landscape of onshore wind energy in Norway. Hydropower Even though the vast majority of Norway’s hydropower potential has already been utilised, the NVE calculated in 2020 that the remain- ing hydropower potential was 23 TWh. Not- withstanding the potential for new builds, it is becoming increasingly important to upgrade existing hydropower plants – this is crucial not only to increase hydropower production in the energy mix, but also to maintain the production capacity of existing plants. The higher electricity prices and the general energy crisis in Europe have led to several com-
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