Norway approves Baltic Sea GoliatVIND environmental impact assessment

The Norwegian Ministry of Energy approved GoliatVIND's proposal on Nov. 11 for an environmental impact assessment (EIA) program of a floating offshore wind project in the Baltic Sea.

GoliatVIND now plans to submit a license application, which if sanctioned, would lead to the world's first offshore demonstration plant with turbines and floaters rated at more than 15 MW.

The company’s co-venturers are Odfjell Oceanwind, Source Galileo, Kansai Electric Power and ENEOS Renewable Energy.

“To meet Enova's deadline and to be competitive globally, we are dependent on a license being granted in 2025,” said Gunnar Birkeland, CEO of Source Galileo Norge and chair of GoliatVIND. “In light of the postponement of Utsira Nord [in the North Sea], and the fact that other countries also have upcoming projects in the near future, GoliatVIND represents a key project to secure Norway's position in floating offshore wind.”

The company issued its proposal for an EIA program for the project in late November 2023, with 31 consultation responses received and published on the Ministry of Energy's website.

The 75-MW demonstration plant would feature five 15-MW wind turbines located in the center of Odfjell Oceanwind's Deepsea Star semisubmersible floating foundations. Construction could start in 2028-2029.

“As a demonstration plant,” Birkeland explained, “GoliatVIND will help establish Norwegian supplier capacity and reduce the technical risk of floating offshore wind in Norway. This will result in reduced risks and lower costs for the development of floating offshore wind projects in Norway, initially for the planned projects in the areas called Utsira Nord and Vestavind B.”

Project mapping, follow-up surveys and monitoring will take place around the Goliat oil production platform with turbines of similar size to those in planned large-scale developments, but on a much smaller scale.

GoliatVIND is said to be 5% to 7% of the size of the planned Utsira Nord project.

The development will also supply power to the nearby onshore Finnmark region. GoliatVIND should deliver about 320 GWh/year.