Three offshore wind developers have signed contracts with the Norwegian Marine Energy Test Centre (METCentre) to test new technology and reduce the costs of floating offshore wind. Near the end of last year, the METCentre received approval to expand its test area with up to four new test sites. The world’s first floating offshore wind turbine is already located at the site, and in 2021 it was joined by the Stiesdal-developed TetraSpar. In total, there is space for seven turbines at the site, which can together produce up to 85MW. The companies that signed deals with the METCentre will demonstrate floaters with turbines of over 15MW. There are no other places in the world testing at this scale and this turbine size is considered to be relevant for the future of floating offshore wind farms. The test area is just a few kilometres from the Utsira Nord area, where Norway’s first commercial floating offshore wind farm will be located. At the international conference for floating offshore wind, Floating Wind Days, state-owned company Enova announced a new support program for floating offshore wind. The test projects are all competing for funding and the names of those companies have not yet been revealed. “This is very good news for innovation in floating offshore wind. The technologies now being planned at METCentre will be crucial when we get started with Utsira Nord,” said Arvid Nesse, head of METCentre and Norwegian Offshore Wind. He explained that Norway will gain important knowledge from both the construction and operation processes, and achieve the necessary cost reductions before Utsira Nord construction starts. “The most important thing the Norwegian government can do now is investing in demo and test projects, to ensure that commercial projects in the future will be profitable and require less risk mitigation,” Nesse added. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1_95_0_1_2'); }); TagsNorway Offshore Wind