Offshore staff
OSLO, Norway — The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has compiled the first offshore wind datasets for operations on the Norwegian shelf.
Data from subsurface surveys for the first phase of the project area Sørlige Nordsjø II in the southern North Sea are now ready for download from the NPD’s Diskos service. These include surveys NPD22100 and NPD23100, with each containing seven types of data, namely: 2D Ultra-High-Resolution (UHR) multi-channel seismic; bottom penetrating sonar; multi-beam echo sounder (bathymetry); back-scatter data; MBES water column data; magnetometer data; and Side-Seeking Sonar (SSS) data.
Norway aims to award acreage for 30 GW by 2040.
The government opened the first areas for renewable offshore energy production on the shelf in 2020, and the authorities have since been working on a regulatory framework in cooperation with the industry and others.
Earlier this year, first project areas were opened for offshore wind at Utsira Nord and Sørlige Nordsjø II, with plans to award acreage during first-quarter 2024.
Early last year, the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy asked the NPD to implement a tender process for pilot surveys over the two areas. The first phase of the Sørlige Nordsjø II survey (eastern part) started in the fall of 2022 and concluded earlier this year.
The survey over Utsira Nord began this summer. The northern area has since been completed, the southern area is nearing completion and work has just got underway over the central area, with the full program due to finish next spring.
Magnetometer data and MBES water column data will only be made available after a license is awarded, the NPD added, to the parties responsible for developing the area.
11.14.2023
