Spar structures of the Hywind Tampen floating wind farm are being moved to Dommersnes from Aker Solutions site in Stord, Norway, April 18, 2021. Jan Arne Wold ? Equinor/Handout via REUTERSfor offshore wind as turbines can be installed in deeper waters than fixed-bottom foundations, harnessing stronger and more continuous wind to generate more power.
There are two main types of tender for traditional and floating wind projects. Governments hold seabed, or site auctions, leasing areas where projects can be built, or hold auctions for the power projects are expected to produce. Britain, for instance, holds contract for difference auctions offering projects a guaranteed price for electricity which developers can then use to help secure financing.
Below are the main offshore wind auctions expected this year which also include provisions for floating technology:from its competition to award seabed leases to companies developing projects to supply power to mainly North Sea oil and gas companies which could support more than 5 gigawatts of capacity. Winners included Flotation Energy and Cerulean Winds.
Celtic Sea – Britain will offer seabed licences for up to 4 GW of capacity of floating wind technology in the Celtic Sea this year.France is set to hold auctions for seabed licences and power agreements for 250 megawatts off the coast of Brittany and two 250 MW tranches in the Mediterranean.Italy is expected to hold an auction for up to 1 GW of offshore wind power, including floating technology, in 2023 or 2024.