Ferry reported in late August 2026 that one-year delay in Ventyr’s flagship Southern North Sea II fixed-bottom array may further undermine confidence in the former industry leader.
Norway’s slow-moving offshore wind development will see further postponement after the Ministry of Energy granted a one-year delay to Ventyr’s Southern North Sea II project to submit its licence application.
The company, a joint venture by Parkwind and Ingka Investments, requested the extension for several reasons, most notably the need for more time to investigate a possible alternative route for the project’s landfall and grid connection.
The new route to be investigated involves making landfall and grid connection near Alcoa's plant at Lista.
“The Ministry believes that there are grounds for extending the deadline for submitting a license application by 12 months… and has therefore granted the application for an extension,” the Norwegian government said.
The Ministry of Energy has set a new deadline of 15 October next year for Ventyr to submit its application. The news injects further uncertainty into Norway’s offshore wind ambitions despite its former leadership role in floating wind.
Six years ago, Norway was leading internationally, when Equinor’s plan to build the world’s biggest floating offshore wind farm, Hywind Tampen, was approved.
The test project has so far been successful. According to Equinor, production is relatively stable, and capacity utilisation has been around 50% — far better than can be expected onshore at the same latitude. Yet despite this success, progress has been slower elsewhere.
Stalled progress
At 1.5GW, Southern North Sea II was to be the nation’s first largescale fixed bottom development. Norway’s deep outer continental shelf requires floating wind for most areas. Yet the owners have raised questions about the project’s economics. If the numbers do not add up for Ventyr and its owners, it may be cheaper to take the penalty and return the licence to the authorities, analysts have noted.
Confidence in Norway’s wider offshore wind pipeline was further shaken last year as multiple developers, including Stakkraft and Macquarie, pulled out of its Utsira Nord floating wind tender, further undermining confidence in the sector.
Nineteen areas have been identified as potential development zones, and Norway has previously signalled that a new offshore wind tender would be launched every other year.
This schedule has been sidelined, though.
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