This is how the government will invest in offshore wind in the North Sea – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio

– This is a historic day for marine investment in Norway, and for energy policy in Norway, says Une Aina Bastholm, deputy chair of the Energy and Environment Committee for the MDGs. She is satisfied that they have received approval for nature to be mapped. – Following the agreements we have received, we have strengthened nature mapping both for future sea window developments in Norway, but also already now from Sørlig Nordsjø II, she says. What must also happen after the agreement is that this must be an industrial and energy investment where nature will have a positive outcome. On Friday morning, the government held a press conference about the offshore wind investment together with SV, MDG and KrF about the way forward. – We are incredibly happy to get started, and not least to ensure a power surplus in the future so we ensure that people get lower electricity prices, says Marianne Sivertsen Næss (Ap), who heads the energy and environment committee. The offshore wind investment was supposed to pay for itself, but new calculations show that the state aid will increase from NOK 15 to 23 billion. It has made the Conservative Party stubborn. The party withdrew from the offshore wind negotiations at the Storting on Tuesday, and the debate about the Norwegian offshore wind investment has raged in recent weeks. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / news Norway’s largest offshore wind project Sørlige Nordsjø II is designated as Norway’s first large offshore wind project. The field is located in the very south of the North Sea, close to the border with Denmark. The government initially set a ceiling of NOK 15 billion in state aid for the offshore wind project. On Wednesday evening, the news came that the frame bursts with NOK 8 billion. This increases the amount of support from the state to NOK 23 billion. Both SV, MDG and KrF’s policies are positive towards investing in floating offshore wind. It appears in the party’s party programme. Map showing two fields that have already been opened for offshore wind development, Sørlig Nordsjø II and Utsira nord. Photo: NVE – Too expensive The Conservative Party withdrew from the offshore wind negotiations at the Storting on Tuesday. The reason is that the party believes the investment will be too expensive. – We see that the offshore wind investment will be significantly more expensive than what we had imagined, said the Conservative Party’s energy policy spokesperson Nikolai Astrup. Several parties in the Storting, as well as the government, reacted strongly to the Conservative Party withdrawing. – Frivolous and irresponsible to withdraw support for the government’s offshore wind investment, said SV’s Lars Haltbrekken on Thursday.



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