Japanese utility Kansai Electric Power (TYO:9503) and Netherlands-based Ingka Investments have joined the UtsiraVIND consortium to bid in the Norwegian government’s tender for floating offshore wind sites.
Ingka Investments, which is the investment arm of Ingka Group, in turn, the largest franchisee of Swedish furniture retailer IKEA, said on Wednesday it has joined the bidding group that will take part in the upcoming competition in September. The partnership already includes Norwegian floating wind player Odfjell Oceanwind and pan-European renewables developer Source Galileo.
UtsiraVIND aims to develop, build and operate a floating wind park within the Utsira Nord area in the North Sea. The specific area is located 32 km offshore in the North Sea and can accommodate 1.5 GW of offshore wind turbines.
The tender for Utsira Nord was launched in March and will allocate capacity to three projects.
Ingka Investments has recently stepped up investments into the clean energy sector as it aims to achieve 100% renewable energy across the value chain. In May, it bought a minority stake in a portfolio of three offshore wind projects in Finland with a potential capacity of 6 GW, followed by the acquisition of a 49% stake in a 460-MWp portfolio of early-stage solar photovoltaic projects in Italy.
Source: renewablesnow
