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Norway holds inaugural offshore wind auction in the middle of uncertainty over bids

Norway holds its first auction on Monday for the right to build an industrial overseas wind farm, providing to 1.5 gigawatt (GW) of capability, although interest has receded amid high project costs and there is still a threat of no bids being made.

I wish for a great auction with several strong gamers who wish to develop overseas wind at Soerlige Nordsjoe II, Astrid Bergmaal, state secretary at Norway's energy ministry, told .

Soerlige Nordsjoe II is close to Norway's North Sea border with Denmark and some 200 kilometres (124 miles) from Norwegian shores. It is part of the federal government's wider aspiration to use 30 GW of offshore wind capability by 2040.

The descending-bids auction begins at 0800 GMT and deals state support through a 15-year contract for difference (CfD). chosen in Norwegian oere per kilowatt hour (kWh), and topped. at an overall of 23 billion Norwegian crowns ($ 2.17 billion).

5 groups pre-qualified for the auction in February. Germany's EnBW has actually considering that verified that it will not get involved.

The key consider EnBW's decision were the requirement for. the designer to construct and own the high-voltage direct current. transmission adapter and the constraint of state assistance, the. company said.

The staying groups are:

* Norway's Equinor and Germany's RWE

* State-owned utility Statkraft, Aker Offshore Wind and. Britain's. BP

* Ventyr, including Parkwind, bulk owned by Japan's. Jera,. and Ingka Group, the owner of many IKEA shops

* Shell and regional Norwegian firms Lyse and Eviny

While Shell and others have actually raised concerns over the. project's profitability, all 4 groups decreased to state if they. would bid when asked .

The overseas wind industry is dealing with boost. from rising interest rates and supply chain traffic jams. Big. names such as Orsted, Vattenfall, TotalEnergies and Iberdrola. dropped plans to participate in the auction. ($ 1 = 10.6081 Norwegian crowns)

(source: Reuters)