Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has wrapped up the pre-qualification round for the 1,500 MW Sorlige Nordsjo II offshore wind auction round. Following a thorough review, five applicants have been approved for participation in the auction round.

"We can announce that several strong applicants have been qualified to participate in the auction for offshore wind for Sorlige Nordsjo II. We have decided to proceed with the auction, which will begin on the 18th of March. I look forward to a good auction between these companies", said Minister of Energy Terje Aasland.

Out of the seven initial contenders, the five qualified applicants are as follows: a consortium made of Aker Offshore Wind, BP and Statkraft; another consortium consisting of Equinor and RWE; Norseman Wind (an EnBW subsidiary); a partnership between Shell, Lyse and Eviny; and Ventyr (Parkwind and Ingka).

The auction will be conducted as an English auction with open bidding. In the auction, the qualified players will compete for state support by submitting increasingly lower bids until one bidder remains. The player with the lowest bid in øre/kWh wins the auction.

For competitive reasons, the bidding in the auction will be closed to the public. After the auction, the ministry will publish the name of the auction winner and the size of the winning bid (strike price). The winning bid determines the strike price that forms the basis of the two-way contract for difference. The auction opens Monday 18th of March at 9 AM GMT +1/Norwegian time zone.