Two Japanese power companies, JERA and Chubu Electric Power, have joined a consortium that has been awarded the contract to develop Norway's first offshore wind farm. The consortium also includes Ingka Group, the owner of IKEA, and Parkwind, a Belgian company acquired by JERA in 2023.
The wind farm, named Hywind Tampen, will be located on the continental shelf in the North Sea and is expected to be operational by 2030. It will have a capacity of 1.5 gigawatts, enough to power approximately 1.5 million homes. The Norwegian government will contribute up to 23 billion krones (approximately $2.1 billion) to the project.
Norway has abundant natural gas and petroleum reserves, which has historically hindered the development of renewable energy sources in the country. However, the government has set a goal of generating 30 gigawatts of electricity through offshore wind farms by 2040. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre has indicated that the government will hold additional auctions for wind farm construction projects in the future.