Around 100 participants attended the suppliers event organized by Blåse and Ventyr at Sola, near Stavanger, and they were treated to a series of exciting announcements for the supplier industry.

During the morning session, Eirik Ellingsen’s presentation particularly stood out and generated enthusiasm. His main points were crystal clear:

  1. The market potential in offshore wind is enormous.
  2. Norwegian suppliers should think globally from the outset.

“At the same time, there is one concern that applies to the supplier industry globally: Can they deliver enough and on time? It’s far from certain,” says Ellingsen, who is an advisor at Norwegian Energy Partners (NORWEP).

He listed several areas where the Norwegian supplier industry is in demand:

  • Site investigation, environment, met-ocean, and geotechnic
  • Feasibility and license planning
  • Research institutions
  • Concept engineering and front-end design
  • Project management and engineering
  • Safety – design, equipment, and systems
  • Vessel logistics, design, and tailored solutions
  • Vessel and marine equipment
  • Substations and sub substations
  • Critical infrastructure – substation, grid connection, communication
  • Security
  • Cables, cable systems, planning, installation, and monitoring
  • Walk-to-Work (W2W), cranes, and mooring systems
  • Floating foundation solutions
  • Fixed foundation solutions
  • Onshore logistics and ports, preassembly, and load out of the harbor
  • Offshore logistics, load out, and transport to the installation site
  • Asset integrity management
  • Operation and management
  • Digitalization

“The sooner Norwegian suppliers can expand internationally, the better. It’s all about international collaboration,” Ellingsen believes.

Floating wind is coming

In the afternoon session the focus was on floating wind and Blåse. Sander Baksjøberget, Offshore Wind Advisor at Rystad Energy, discussed the market situation for both offshore wind in general and the relationship between floating and fixed-bottom projects.

“Fixed-bottom installations will dominate for some time yet, but by 2034-2035, we estimate that floating offshore wind will account for approximately 30% of new installations,” he explains.

The Stavanger region is considered the Energy Capital of Norway, and project manager Ulf Rosenberg discussed how the region is driving green energy transition, even though it is not a recent development.

“We underwent the green shift in energy 100 years ago when we started with hydropower. As a result, we are in the midst of a 200-year perspective on renewable energy production,” says Rosenberg.

Project Manager Hasnaa Alhussein introduced the Blåse consortium, while Utsira Mayor Marte Eide Klovning shared how the municipality is driving the offshore wind initiative.

“We have high expectations and have been working tirelessly on what we believe is the biggest opportunity in decades. It means everything to us. We are securing a future and fulfilling a vision – Utsira gives energy to the world.”

CIP’s Pierre Bagaria was the final speaker, addressing the future needs of Blåse. He and CIP have great confidence in floating offshore wind and are delighted to collaborate with both NorSea and Parkwind, as they complement each other. Earlier this week, news broke about new partners joining the consortium: Varanger Kraft and Hammerfest Energi.

“We have slightly different approaches that make us strong together. Parkwind and CIP are developing offshore wind farms, while NorSea has extensive experience from the supplier side and covers the entire Norwegian coast,” says Bagaria.