Utsira Nord — Area 3 (Harald Hårfagre) is a development-stage floating offshore wind project located in the Utsira Nord lease area off southwestern Norway. The allocation grants the Harold Hårfagre consortium the right to pursue environmental permitting, site studies and to compete for state aid ...
Owners
On 11 December 2025, Norway’s Ministry of Energy announced that Harald Hårfagre AS (a consortium of Deep Wind Offshore Norway AS and EDF Renouvelables International SAS) would be awarded Utsira Nord project area 3, granting the consortium time-limited exclusive rights to develop a 500 MW floating offshore wind project now known as Utsira Nord — Area 3 (Harald Hårfagre).
By the 15 September 2025 application deadline, the Harald Hårfagre AS consortium (Deep Wind Offshore Norway AS and EDF Renouvelables International SAS) submitted its application for a 500 MW floating wind project area in Utsira Nord, entering the Ministry of Energy’s qualitative competition for site allocation.
On 19 May 2025, the Norwegian Ministry of Energy formally re‑launched the Utsira Nord offshore wind competition and published the final competition rules for three project areas of up to 500 MW each. The rules set eligibility and qualitative criteria, including requirements for experience with at least a 66 kV grid connection and plans for the grid connection, and indicate that projects will compete for up to NOK 35 billion of investment support with a target date of around 2034 for a fully operational 500 MW project.
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On 15 April 2025, the EFTA Surveillance Authority adopted a state aid decision approving Norway’s support scheme for a floating offshore wind project of about 500 MW in Utsira Nord, covering both the wind farm and its radial grid connection to the mainland transmission grid. The decision defines the developer-owned export connection as "dedicated infrastructure" and confirms that developers must build and finance the AC cable link from the offshore project area to the onshore Statnett substation, subject to general market access and third‑party access rules.
In November 2024, NVE delivered the first part of the strategic environmental impact assessment covering, among others, the Vestavind F area that includes Utsira Nord, mapping technical-economic suitability and environmental and societal impacts as a basis for future project development such as Utsira Nord — Area 3 (Harald Hårfagre).
EDF Renewables announced that in December it had partnered with Norwegian independent power producer Deep Wind Offshore to jointly participate in Norway’s first offshore wind auction in the Utsira Nord and Sørlige Nordsjø II areas. The partnership establishes a co-development structure for bidding into the Norwegian government’s offshore wind process covering these North Sea zones.
The Norwegian government formally opened the Utsira Nord area off the coast of Rogaland for offshore renewable energy production on 12 June 2020, designating the 1,500 MW floating wind zone within which the Utsira Nord — Area 3 (Harald Hårfagre) project is located.
By royal resolution on 12 June 2020, the Norwegian government formally opened the Utsira Nord area for up to 1,500 MW of offshore energy production, divided equally between three 500 MW project areas. This area-opening decision establishes the legal framework that enables future floating wind projects and their radial grid connections from Utsira Nord to be developed and consented.
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