The Ocean Grid project to get financial support of 82.7 million NOK through the Green Platform scheme
The Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry, Iselin Nybø, announced that the Ocean Grid project will get financial support of 82.7 million NOK, through the Green Platform scheme, according to Equinor's release.
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, and will in the long term enable the creation of green jobs and increased export revenues.
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.
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, that will solve specific research challenges.
Europe has a plan of installing 300 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2050. The Norwegian industry is world leading when it comes to sea and subsea technology, developed over five decades of oil and gas extraction. Norway is therefore in a unique position to build upon this expertise and take a significant portion of this new market.
