CIP joins NorSea and Parkwind to develop floating wind
Copenhagen Infrastructure
Partners (CIP) will join NorSea and Parkwind in a partnership dedicated
to floating offshore wind projects in Norway. The companies will initially
target the Utsira Nord tender.
Norway has a target of reaching net zero by 2050 and has committed to establishing
30 GW of offshore wind power by 2040. The first tender round in 2023 includes
the Utsira Nord area, which will initially offer 1.5 GW of capacity. The
objectives stated publicly by the Norwegian government are to develop a
competitive Norwegian supplier base, technology hub and industry around
floating offshore wind.
The three companies stated that they will combine expertise in developing,
financing, and constructing renewable assets to enter the Norwegian floating
offshore market. Together they have experience from similar projects in
Northern Europe and the rest of the world combined with a local presence,
local knowledge, and ambitions to contribute to development of local value
chains and industry.
“CIP, with their experience, forward-leaning renewable technologies, and
financial capacity, will further strengthen our partnership and bring capabilities
that will help ensure a high quality and competitive application and development
of Utsira Nord. The inclusion of KLP as CIP’s strategic co-investor, further
underlines the Norwegian position, and our main ambition to build a strong
Norwegian industry developing offshore wind for the future”, said
Kristin Gjertsen, CEO of NorSea Impact.
“We are very pleased to enter into this partnership with such capable
and ambitious partners. It will substantially strengthen our foothold in
Norway and provide us with a strong platform to aid the development and
growth of the Norwegian offshore wind industry over the next decade as
well as the creation of local industry, innovation, and local jobs,”
said Nischal Agarwal, partner at CIP.
“The creation of this partnership is particularly exciting as it brings
some of the most competent, relevant, and experienced industry players
together. It represents a major step forward for the development of offshore
energy in Norway. The combination of expertise and resources coming from
this consortium is bound to lead to innovation, local value creation to
the transition to a sustainable future”, said Mathias Van Steenwinkel,
Head of M&A, Origination & Tenders at Parkwind.
“Investments in Norwegian offshore wind are in line with KLP’s long term
strategy for sustainable investment. As a large Norwegian institutional
investor, we are eager to help develop new sources of renewable energy
that we expect will deliver attractive returns to our owners, mainly Norwegian
public sector entities and their employees. We have for a number of years
been a limited partner in CIP’s funds and we have strong confidence in
them as a partner. With the addition of the other members of the consortium
we think the group has a strong combination of technical, industrial, and
financial capabilities. KLP has a goal of investing at least six billion
Norwegian kroner in “green” investments annually. With this investment
we hope to boost our initiatives to a new level,” said KLP’s CFO,
Aage Schaanning.
