Norway puts $428m behind floating wind test projects off Karmøy

Norway has awarded 3.94 billion Norwegian crowns — about $428 million — to two floating offshore wind test projects, its government agency Enova announced on Friday, 30 October.

Fortius Offshore Wind will receive 2 billion crowns and Fram Wind Solutions will receive 1.94 billion crowns. Each company plans to install two floating turbines, each with a capacity of 18.5 megawatts, at the METCentre test site off Karmøy in Rogaland, south-west Norway, over the next five years.

Together, the four turbines are expected to generate around 300 million kilowatt-hours of electricity a year — roughly 0.3 terawatt-hours — enough to supply about 15,000 households. The funding is conditional on the projects going ahead.

The projects will test floating foundations, mooring systems, and ways of building and running large floating turbines. The aim is to find out whether new technology can bring down the cost of generating power from floating wind.

Why it matters

Most offshore wind turbines are fixed to the seabed, which limits them to relatively shallow water. Floating turbines can be placed much further out, where winds are stronger and steadier, but the technology is still expensive.

Enova chief executive Evy Glørstad said that if the projects succeed in making floating wind profitable, it would be “a major step towards faster, large-scale deployment of renewable power”. The two projects were picked through a competitive process that weighed energy output per crown of funding, scope for wider use of the technology, environmental impact, and the chance of lower costs in future.

What happens next

The two companies will now work towards building and installing their turbines at the Karmøy test site over the next five years. If the trials show the technology can cut costs, Norway hopes it will help floating wind move from small test projects to full-scale wind farms — and support its maritime industry along the way.

Sources

• https://live.euronext.com/en/financial-news/norway-grants-428-million-two-floating-offshore-wind-test-projects (Reuters, 30 October 2026)
• https://peoplesdaily.pdnews.cn/world/er/30053457708 (Xinhua, 30 October 2026)
• https://www.power-technology.com/news/norway-floating-wind-funding/ (Power Technology, 30 October 2026)

This article is for general information and education only. It is not legal or financial advice.