Norway awards 425 mln USD for floating offshore wind projects

OSLO, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Norway's state-owned enterprise Enova said Friday it has awarded 3.94 billion Norwegian kroner (about 425 million U.S. dollars) to two floating offshore wind demonstration projects aimed at reducing the technology's costs.

Fortius Offshore Wind will receive 2 billion Norwegian kroner (about 216 million U.S. dollars), while Fram Wind Solutions will receive 1.94 billion Norwegian kroner (about 209 million dollars). Disbursement is conditional on the projects being implemented, Enova said.

Each company plans to install two 18.5-megawatt floating wind turbines over the next five years at METCentre's demonstration site off Karmoy in southwestern Norway.

The four turbines are expected to generate a combined 300 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, equivalent to the annual consumption of around 15,000 households.

The projects will test floating foundations, mooring systems, and construction and operating methods. Enova has identified these as key areas for cutting costs and improving the commercial viability of floating offshore wind.

Enova Chief Executive Evy Glorstad said making the technology commercially viable could accelerate large-scale renewable energy development, help Norwegian industry, and reduce transport emissions.

The projects were selected through a competitive process assessing electricity output relative to funding, potential for wider technological adoption, environmental impacts and prospects for future cost reductions, Enova said.