A dynamic offshore wind consortium committed to advancing Norwegian renewable energy has been expanded. The UtsiraVIND Consortium, originated as a partnership between ODFJELL OCEANWIND, a market-leading Norwegian provider of floating offshore wind technologies and SOURCE GALILEO, a fast-growing European renewable energy platform, concentrating on offshore wind development.

Today, this partnership, has been further strengthened with KANSAI, one of the largest Japanese utilities, and Ingka Investments, the investment arm of Ingka Group, the largest IKEA retailer, joining the partnership. Both Kansai and Ingka Investments are major global investors in renewable energy and in offshore wind in Europe. This expanded consortium will be bidding into the Utsira Nord floating offshore wind tender process in September 2023.  

Driven by the shared vision of a greener energy future, the consortium brings together proprietary technology in floating structures, electrical engineering, financial strength, and extensive offshore wind experience. By pooling their knowledge and strengths, they seek to make a relevant contribution to develop new offshore wind farms in Norway and also to make Norwegian floating wind a globally cost-competitive energy supply solution.

The Consortium will now seek to progress their bid in the upcoming Utsira tender process to develop, build and operate a floating wind park on Utsira Nord using Odfjell Oceanwind’s proprietary solutions. The Utsira Nord seabed lies 32km offshore in the North Sea where floating wind turbines in water depths of 180 to 280m are foreseen to be developed in the first round for a total capacity of 1.5GW.

"We are thrilled to join forces with such esteemed partners who share our passion for renewable energy," said Gunnar Birkeland, CEO of Source Galileo’s Norwegian business. "This collaboration allows us to leverage our respective strengths to deliver UtsiraVIND and put Norway at the forefront of floating offshore wind globally”.

“We have had a very real interest in Norwegian technology for some time and this partnership is ideally placed to position Kansai to bring the knowledge and experience obtained into the Japanese market. We’re excited to partner and collaborate on UtsiraVIND and will be dedicated to promoting this project by dispatching our engineers to Norway” said Mikio Matsumura, Senior Executive Vice President of Kansai.

“The UtsiraVIND partnership is ideally placed to deliver a highly effective bid for the Utsira Nord tender”, said Per Lund, CEO of Odfjell Oceanwind, “the operational expertise and financial strengths of Kansai and Ingka Investments will help us accelerate the achievement of offshore wind in Norway.”

“This partnership is a further step to expand our investment activities to address climate footprint reduction well beyond our retail consumption, and into the IKEA value chain. We are looking forward to working closely with our Utsira partners to make a significant contribution to the Norwegian Government’s renewable energy goals,” said Frederik de Jong, Head of Renewable Energy at Ingka Investments.

The consortium's combined portfolio includes an array of renewable projects across Norway and Europe. Their track record demonstrates their unwavering commitment to excellence, safety, and environmental stewardship.

Augusta & Co acted as financial advisers to Source Galileo in expanding the consortium partnership.

KeyFacts Renewable Energy Directory: Odfjell Oceanwind