Utsira Nord Offshore Wind

The Utsira Nord offshore wind farm field lies in the North Sea offshore Norway and west of the island of Utsira, as shown on the map, in water depths of 185 m – 280 m where floating offshore wind turbines is the only feasible project foundation option and is hence suitable for generating renewable floating wind power.

The distance to the Utsira island is only 12 to 32 km and the turbines will be visible from the shore.

The initial development is 1500 MW (1.5 GW) and there are 3 off concessions available as the purpose for the field is to develop and mature offshore floating wind technology. The future capacity may be up to 6000 MW (6 GW).

The competition of the areas is ongoing with application deadline 1. September 2023 and announcement of winners late 2023.

Geotechnical Evaluations and Soil Conditions

The Utsira Nord offshore wind field (havvind in Norwegian) lies in the so-called Norwegian Trench or Norwegian Channel in water depth that range from 185 to 280 m, but with most of the area in depth of about 260 – 280 m and covering an area of 20 km by 50 km or about 1,000 km2. The soil conditions in the area is well known and many geotechnical evaluations done for existing subsea structures related to subsea oil and gas production systems. At these water depths the seabed soil is lightly over-consolidated soft to very soft clay, however there is a small area of exposed bedrock, where gravity anchors may be a feasible solution. The deepwater offshore wind area is much different from the dense sand, silt and hard clay seabed at the Sørlige Nordsjø II field and the more mixed soils at the ScotWind field. We have geotechnical engineering parameters, seismic and bathymetric data readily available to perform case studies and cost optimisation.

Utsira Nord Cost Reduction and Feasibility Study