Today it was announces that "ImpactWind Sørvest" went through the Research Council of Norway, which allocates NOK 28 million to the research project. Behind the project is a strong research-based and interdisciplinary team  and Deep Wind Offshore is involved as one of the big industry partners.

The aim of the project is to enable faster development of offshore wind on the Norwegian shelf through the development of research-based knowledge and the construction of long-term educational / research capacity for efficient license application processes.

Collaboration on competence development for offshore wind

Deep Wind Offshores electrical engineer, Truls Drange

"Knowledge and competence related to project development and improved license application processes are crucial for us as an offshore wind developer, for the industry as a whole and for relevant authorities. Coordinating ourselves correctly and ensuring good knowledge-based impact assessments that can reduce the conflict potential around new energy projects will be very important for society and a further sustainable development of offshore wind in Norway. We look forward to contributing to this work," says head of energy systems and electrical power engineer Truls Drange in Deep Wind Offshore."

Drange, together with colleague and biologist, Erling Otterlei, has contributed to the application process and will, on behalf of Deep Wind Offshore, follow the project in the various phases and towards relevant work packages.

Faster development

The project is divided into five work packages, where the intention is to develop collaborative arenas between the offshore wind industry and academia, a database solution for data and studies for offshore wind developments and research-based knowledge that fills identified competence gaps. The project also wants to build on established industrial collaborations to strengthen regional higher education with relevance to offshore wind.

"Deep Wind Offshore is a developer and owner of offshore wind farms and we see that in order to succeed with the offshore wind investment, the industry must raise the knowledge base in relation to the impact on nature and the environment. Increased research efforts and access to relevant knowledge will strengthen the quality of the impact assessments and constitute an important decision basis for the development of offshore wind," says biologist Erling Otterlei in Deep Wind Offshore.

Deep Wind Offshore recognizes good and thorough processes, while at the same time finding solutions on how to accelerate and ensure progress. A successful project that shortens the time leading up to developments on the Norwegian shelf will accelerate value creation from offshore wind-related activity on the Norwegian shelf and eventually also from activity against offshore wind outside Norway.

Heavily competence from different companies

Behind the project is a strong and interdisciplinary team within research and academia from UiB, UiA, UiS and NORCE. In addition to Deep Wind Offshore, Aker Offshore Wind, NorSea Group, Norseman, Shell, BKK, Agder Energi and Nordic Circles are also industrial partners. The project also receives support from four business clusters, two industry organisations and the three county municipalities; Agder, Rogaland and Vestland, all with connections to the planned offshore wind areas. 

The project to be led by NORCE begins in the first quarter of 2022 and the project is expected to be completed in 2027. The allocation of NOK 28 million from the Research Council triggers own efforts and industrial support, so that a total project budget of approx. NOK 56 million.

KeyFacts Renewable Energy Directory: Deep Wind Offshore