Offshore Wind Licensing in Norway - An Analysis of the Rules Concerning Authorization and Licensing of Offshore Wind Pursuant to the Offshore Energy Act and proposed regulation

Abstract

The topic of the thesis is the licensing process for offshore wind electricity generation in Norway. Since the Offshore Energy Act in 2010 there has not been much development for the Norwegian offshore wind regulation until the summer of 2019 when the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy submitted a proposal for a new regulation to the Act for public consultation. Along with the proposal for new a regulation is also a proposal to open two, possibly three, zones for license application. This thesis will present an overview and analysis of both the current and newly proposed regulation, and in so look to answer three research questions. The first one is: What are the existing rules concerning authorization and licensing of offshore wind farms pursuant to the Norwegian legislation and in particular the Offshore Energy Act, and what is their scope and sufficiency? Next the thesis will inquire: What novelty is brought by the proposed new regulation to the Offshore Energy Act with regard to the licensing procedure for offshore wind farms and does this overcome the gaps left by the in-force legislation? Lastly, the thesis will analyze: Whether the already existing legislation along with the proposed regulation are adequate to fulfill its own statutory objective by facilitating to an open and fair process when exploiting renewable energy sources at sea.