Act on Offshore Renewable Energy Production

Established in 2010, the Act on Offshore Renewable Energy Production supports research and prototypes projects, regulates projects licensing processes, infrastructure deployment and creates specific assessment guidelines for offshore resource exploitation. Norway doesn’t only have excellent offshore wind resources, but also has a well-developed oil and gas industry with strong offshore capabilities. The Act facilitates the opening of offshore areas for licence allocation, initiates the creation of priority areas where potential has to be further assessed first and states that in order to obtain a licence, early environmental and societal assessments of project deployment consequences on the energy sector and on Norwegian society as a whole is required. The first large-scale project supported by the Norwegian government is the 88 MW floating offshore wind farm Hywind Tampen to be completed in spring 2022, which will receive NOK 2.3 billion in funding through the state-owned company ENOVA.