- Norway’s country, Shell’s manager, stated that the business case was “not looking great”; therefore, they may not bid.
- Shell in consortium with two local Norwegian utilities, has applied to build Norway’s first offshore wind farm.
Norway’s country manager for Shell, Marianne Olsnes said that Shell may yet pull out of an ongoing tender for Norway’s first commercial offshore wind farm on problem boarding on the project’s profitability.
Olsnes, in an energy conference in Oslo today, stated that the business case was “not looking great; therefore, they may not bid. While there is no final decision yet, the tender conditions were “very challenging”, he said at the sidelines of the event.
Shell in consortium with two local Norwegian utilities, has applied for pre-qualification to build Norway’s first bottom-fixed offshore wind farm at Soerlige Nordsjoe II, in the North Sea.
Energy companies were asked to develop certain parts of the project that grid operators usually handle, while the power is to be delivered to a market that is not interested in higher-cost electricity, she said.
She added, that the pre-qualification is still going on, so the firm do not even know whether they are still in the game.
The tender offers the opportunity to build bottom-fixed wind turbines with a capacity of 1.5 gigawatts (GW), in what Norway hopes will be the starting point for massive offshore power developments in the years leading up to 2040.
Despite an offer of subsidies amounting to 23 billion Norwegian crowns ($2.17 billion), industry representatives and lobby groups still question whether this is sufficient. Olsnes said she did not rule out that Shell might continue in the planned floating wind tender or future offshore wind auctions.
The global offshore wind industry has been struggling with soaring inflation, interest rate hikes and increased costs in the supply chain.