Aker divisions team up for OWFs in Norway to decarbonize oil & gas

Aker Offshore Wind and Aker BP have agreed to cooperate on realizing offshore wind in Norway at large scale, as well as accelerating the process of decarbonizing oil & gas assets.

The parties plan to collaborate on concepts for the development of large offshore wind farms to enable effective offtake to oil & gas producing assets on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS).

Aker Offshore Wind is taking the role to develop and operate the wind farms, while Aker BP will provide industry and technology competence and be a potential customer of electricity from offshore wind along with other operators.  

“We look forward to the opening of offshore wind acreage on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) in 2021. Together with partners, suppliers and yards, we would like to realize technology-driven commercial scale projects and support the development of an offshore wind industry in Norway,” said Astrid Skarheim Onsum, CEO of Aker Offshore Wind.

“We are excited about working with Aker BP, as well as other NCS operators, and leveraging the experience from the existing offshore industry on the NCS. Offshore wind is a global growth industry and we aim to use offshore wind on the NCS to drive down industry cost, introduce innovative technologies and digital solutions.”

This summer, Aker BP announced it is planning to explore the opportunity of using offshore wind energy at new oil & gas development areas.

The company entered into an agreement in principle with Equinor on commercial terms for the coordinated development of the licenses Krafla, Fulla, and North of Alvheim (NOAKA) on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

Recently, Aker Offshore Wind revealed that it plans to focus on deep-water fixed-bottom and floating wind projects in four different markets, including Norway, South Korea, the USA, and Scotland.