Norway plans to launch floating offshore wind parks in the North Sea

Norway has reportedly announced that it seeks to launch floating offshore wind parks in two North Sea areas. As per a statement by the Norwegian oil and energy ministry, the wind parks can hold a total capacity of up to 3.5 gigawatts (GW).
Reportedly, the country is primarily into oil production and wishes to venture into developing wind power, both onshore and offshore. As per reports, in July, the ministry proposes to set up the first offshore park named Utsira North, situated in the North Sea.
For the record, North Sea is situated in the northeastern side of the Atlantic Ocean, between the British Isles and northwestern Europe covering an area of 57,000 square km.
Presently, over 99% of electricity in Norway comes from hydropower plants. However, increase in production of wind power will allow Norway to control its domestic consumption of hydroelectricity.
As per trusted sources, the ministry seeks to open the second area called Southern North Sea II which is close to the offshore border with Denmark. Apparently, Southern North Sea II is close to Denmark and the wind park being built there could be connected to continental Europe's power system.
Norway's oil and energy ministry further quoted that the country is witnessing interests from several kinds of businesses namely, Equinor - a multinational energy company as a builder and other companies that are a part of delivering wind projects in other places.
The ministry further stated that it cannot confirm the year by when the offshore wind parks will be in place and the contacts that the ministry has with the interested companies is at a discussion level.
For the record, Utsira North I holds the power producing capacity ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 GW, while North Sea II can reportedly hold a total capacity of 1-2 GW as it's a bigger area.
As per trusted sources, details of the cost of construction of wind parks has not been disclosed yet.
Sources: https://in.reuters.com/article/us-norway-wind/norway-wants-to-open-two-new-north-sea-areas-to-offshore-wind-idINKCN1TJ25J
https://www.britannica.com/place/North-Sea

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