Norway Parliament vote on subsidy review casts doubts on floating wind project
The Norwegian parliament ordered the government on Tuesday to review the planned subsidy it had given for the country's first commercial floating offshore windfarm, raising fears of a "full stop" in development and a "wider impact" on energy transition projects.
The Progress Party, Christian People's Party and the extreme left Red Party all supported a proposal from the opposition Conservative Party to examine the financial implications of a subsidy for floating winds worth 35 billion Norwegian crowns (3,70 billion dollars).
The minority government wants to support construction of a 500 Megawatts (MW), project at Utsira North, off the south-west coast of Norway. Two groups have been cleared to develop their projects and to enter a competition for subsidies in 2028-2029.
In a debate in parliament, the Conservative Party argued that funding agreed in 2024 as part of a budget agreement lacked an in-depth review to determine if it would "yield" the desired results.
The energy minister and representatives from the industry warned that the review mandated in parliament could pose a threat to ongoing projects and future ones, and create uncertainty among investors.
Terje Aasland, Energy Minister, told? By e-mail.
Norway, as a major oil-and-gas producer, is seeking to "sharply" increase its renewable energy production in the next decades to meet increasing demand, as more industries decarbonise their operation.
Offshore wind can also be seen as a "technology pivot" for industries that are still mostly involved in oil and gas projects.
The Norwegian politics has become a major flashpoint for renewable energy and industrial development.
The motion to stop the electrification of the Hammerfest LNG plant was narrowly defeated earlier this year. $1 = 9.4564 Norwegian Crowns (Reporting and editing by Terje Solsvik).
(source: Reuters)
