Science met-Ocean Wind Industry-met Politicians

– Norway can build on our unique experience from the oil and gas industry, shipping, shipyards- and renewable industry, said Liv Lønnum, State secretary from the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.

The aula at the University of Bergen was brimming with over 170 participants at todays conference Science Meets Industry, were the offshore wind industry, politicians, academia and other energy players were invited to learn more about the status and future of offshore wind.

Two New Areas for Offshore Wind

– The Norwegian petroleum-oriented supplier industry have for decades shown that they are adaptable, innovative and technology-driven. Furthermore, they have experience from international markets with different requirements for local content. All of this gives them a unique starting point for investing in offshore wind power, said Lønnum. She went on to emphasize that it is important to be present where the market is and not wait for a less mature Norwegian market.

– For offshore wind power, we are seeing rapid technology development and falling costs, which is why the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy is proposing to open Utsira Nord and Sandskallen Sørøya Nord, and are moreover asking for input for Sørlige Nordsjø II.

From the governments side we are supporting the international market inititatives within offshore wind and are happy to see that we are "winning" international contracts, Lønnum concluded.

Green Prices are Dropping

– The cost of green energy is going down sharply. I have worked with the energy industry for many years, but no one expected this, said Thina M. Saltvedt from Nordea. She went on to state that green energy could be competitive with natural gas by 2035 (source: Bloomberg). Moreover, the cost of battery technology has improved and is moving fast.

Equinor a Market Leader

– We have high ambitions for offshore wind and we have two clear ambitions; to contribute to that floating offshore wind becomes competitive (we think it will be around 2030), moreover we welcome competition and all new projects because we need more projects and we need more scale. The second is to remain a world leader within floating offshore wind, said Arne Eik from Equinor, who hopes to have Hywind Tampen in water by 2022. – We are looking for this industrialisation, we need big windfarms, we need 500 megawatts windfarms to get industrialisation, standardisation and to get the the costs down, Eik concluded.

Our Cluster Represented

The day progressed with many good presenters from the industry focusing on opportunities, challenges and needs. The price level has gone down for offshore wind and field developments are now realised without subsidies.

The supplier industry now has the potential to gain entry into a growing industry. Kai Stoltz from GCE Ocean Technology gave the closing presentation where he summarised the diversity of the Norwegian supplier industry for offshore wind.