The Ocean Grid project will get financial support of 82.7 million NOK, through the Green Platform scheme, the Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry, Iselin Nybø, has announced.
The project will develop new technology, knowledge and solutions to enable a profitable development of offshore wind on the Norwegian continental shelf. It will look particularly at the way offshore wind will be connected to the grid. The work will touch on both bottom-fixed and floating wind farms.
The project partners will also bring their own financial contributions to the table, raising the total to 125.5 million NOK for the development of the offshore grid. Both the supply industry and energy companies will participate actively in the project, together with the research institutions. The project will span over three years.
“Our objective is to realize offshore wind on a large scale,” says Florian Schuchert, vice president of offshore wind solutions at Equinor, which is leading the project. “We have to build wind farms in a cost-effective way, and we of course need to get the power all the way to the customers. It’s crucial to our success that the energy companies, research institutions and suppliers collaborate towards this goal.”
The Ocean Grid project will also address the issue of market design and the regulatory framework linked to the development and operation of an offshore grid to connect large offshore wind farms. It will develop Norwegian technology and a supply industry to provide new cable designs, subsea technology and floating converter stations. Ocean Grid also has a research component, led by SINTEF, which will solve specific research challenges.
“This project will develop technology and solutions that are essential to succeed with offshore wind. It will lay the foundation for a profitable offshore wind development in Norway, and technology that can provide increased exports and new green jobs,” says John Olav Tande, chief scientist at SINTEF.
Image: Arne Reidar Mortensen / Equinor ASA
