In April, the Water Resource and Energy Directorate (NVE) outlined 20 areas with potential for offshore wind along the Norwegian Coast. The Norwegian Oil and Energy Department (OED) has now commissioned NVE to focus on three of the sites, to prepare for a potential 2025 allocation round. Two of the areas, Sørvest F and Vestavind F are possible expansions on the Utsira Nord and Sørlige Nordsjø II, scheduled to be awarded in Q1 2024. The third site, Vestavind B is located on the west coast, due northwest of Bergen, with a minimum distance of 30 km from the coast.

In addition, NVE has been commissioned to start a strategic impact assessment on areas to be put up for auction after 2025, in order to reach Norway’s target of awarding 30 GW of project capacity before 2040.