Norway to tighten licensing conditions for wind power

The Norwegian government will tighten the licensing conditions for wind power, newspaper Aftenposten reported on Saturday.

Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy Kjell-Borge Freiberg announced stricter regulations when it comes to respecting deadlines for the start of construction of wind farms.

Wind power developers in Norway today have five years to go from the license acquisition until the start of the construction of the wind farm and this deadline is often extended if developer asks for it.

Besides, long processing time will cause the projects to change, for example, due to new technology.

Development of wind power has become a controversial issue in Norway and local resistance has increased in many places.

At most of the political parties' annual meetings there has been extensive debate on wind power on land and its negative impact on nature.

"Norway has some fantastic opportunities in offshore wind. It is not Norway that is the market for electricity produced by offshore wind turbines, but the rest of the world," Freiberg told Aftenposten.

"If we are to achieve the goals in the Paris Agreement, then the wind is part of what needs to be developed. Here Norway has an industrial opportunity," he said.

The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) so far processed a total of 244 applications, out of which 39 have been granted a license.

The processing of 24 new licenses is put on ice until Oct. 1, when the government consultation deadline for the wind power framework expires.