The coastline outside Karmøy is blanketed by sea breezes. The latest consultation on the expansion of a wind power plant just outside the spring stones lacks legal authority.
Support the signature campaign against the expansion of the offshore wind farm outside Karmøy. The link to the campaign can be found below. Sign and share.
The baseline is the boundary between the Ocean Energy Act and the Energy Act/Plan and Building Act is a thin line that in several places goes right outside the jetties, and in some places right up to dry land. Within this line, the normal laws and regulations apply. Right outside, the almighty Ocean Energy Act applies.
The great opposition to onshore wind power has largely been the result of the people finding out what our authorities are really up to. One of the things that has been one of the biggest points of irritation has been the great injustice in how the legislation has been applied. While the authorities have had a very square approach of regulations towards ordinary citizens, the energy companies have had almost free access to the community's values under the strict protection of the civil service. The advantage is ALWAYS greater than the disadvantage, and no law stands in the way.
In 2011, Marin Energi Testsenter AS (METCenter) applied for a license under the Ocean Energy Act to set up two test turbines just outside the jetties on Karmøy. Despite a number of complaints, the OED approved a license with a duration of 20 years on 10/09/2013.
"The permit applies from today and up to 20 years from the time the facility is put into operation, but not beyond that
01.10.2038. The plant must be completed and put into operation within 5 years from the final licence."
The two test turbines should have been commissioned by 01/10/2018, which the developer is unable to do, so they are applying for a postponed deadline for commissioning and an extended period of operation. NVE was so eager to secure the developer's wishes that on 05/03/2018 they granted an extension without making the application public or putting the application out for consultation.
On the basis of the above, Marin Energi Testsenter AS applies in a letter of 20 February 2018 for a postponed deadline for commissioning the facilities to 01 October 2022, and an extended duration of the concession to 01 October 2042.
On the above-mentioned background, NVE has found it unthinkable not to hear the application.
In accordance with § 3-1 of the Energy Act, Norway's Directorate of Waterways and Energy (NVE) hereby grants Marin Energi Testsenter AS a postponed deadline for the commissioning of floating offshore wind power in Karmøy municipality until 01.10.2022, and extended the duration of the concession until 01.10.2042.
Postponed deadline, extended operating period, no publicity or consultation...
Now in 2021, METCenter wants to increase the facility from a 10 MW test center with two turbines to a full production facility with 85 MW power and seven turbines, or correction... No one knows for sure what will come...
Support the signature campaign against the expansion of the offshore wind farm outside Karmøy. The link to the campaign can be found below. Sign and share.
Here everything becomes unclear. METCenter states in the application that this is up to seven "test sites".
It is also not specified which future technologies, including dimensions, will be deployed at these "test sites" within the framework of the concession period. The initiative holder himself states in his application of 02.06.2021:
Wind turbines on floating foundations with associated anchor chains/lines and anchors, but also other technologies for the production and storage of energy (for example wave power, liquid solar power and hydrogen). In other words, it is desirable to have great flexibility in relation to type of technology that can be tested.
Unknown technology and "free-from-the-imagination-concession".
NVE's hearing is the first of two. This round of hearings will reveal "whether the requested extension has been sufficiently investigated, and what kind of additional information and which additional investigations should possibly be carried out before the licensing issue can be decided.". The only thing that is known in this license application is the maximum installed power, which is a stated increase from the licensed 10 MW for two test turbines to a maximum power of 85 MW spread over seven "test sites". It is also not specified which future technologies, including dimensions, will be deployed at these "test sites" within the framework of the concession period.
In other words, this is a pure "free-to-use-your-fantasy-concession", where the owner of the measure, given that it is granted a license according to these premises, is completely free to install whatever they want within the license period (up to 2047), and the given effect framework. It thus becomes impossible to set criteria for impact assessment for something that is completely unknown and undefined.
METCenter itself has outlined that it may be relevant to deploy wind turbines up to 300 meters high, and with a 260 meter rotor diameter. These are more than a quarter of a kilometer high installations located right outside the spring stones at Karmøy in Rogaland. In other words, what the developer is applying for is a pure "free-to-use-your-fantasy-concession" where, right up to 2047, they must have prior approval to be able to deploy anything they want as long as they stay within the effect limit of 85 MW. For comparison, Tysvær wind power plant with 11 turbines will produce 47.3 MW, and Frøya wind power plant with 14 turbines will deliver 58.8 MW. In other words, this is no small facility that is being sought here, prior approval for a gigantic "free-to-imagination facility" in the middle of the coastline.
Insufficient authorization
METCenter searches, for the part outside the baseline; “Application for a license pursuant to §3-1 and §3-2 in the Marine Energy Act for an expansion of existing demonstration facilities for floating wind turbines as well as for the establishment of the part of the grid connection that lies outside the baseline.".
All licenses outside the baseline must be processed by the ministry. NVE claims authority to process this application on the basis of a decision in OED on 26/05/2021, which grants dispensation from Section 2-2 of the Ocean Energy Act, but NVE is only authorized to process applications according to Section 3-1, and not Section 3 -2 which the developer also depends on to build the facility. NVE is therefore not authorized to deal with this case. There is also no correspondence between what the OED says it has been told by METCenter and what METCenter itself states in the consultation statement. This is a fully-fledged production facility where all permits are granted long before the technology, size and design are known.
Sea wind everywhere, and right in the rocks...
The facility is also outside the two areas that have been opened for license applications for offshore wind, Sørlige Nordsjø II and Utsira Nord, and is therefore in addition to these. In other words, this is a way of sneaking new offshore wind plants in the back way. This is not what we expect from our authorities after this approach has caused a storm across the country. This creates absolutely no confidence in the administration.
This plant could have major consequences locally, both on land and at sea. Running through such a "free-from-the-fantasy-concession" at a time when this is precisely what has been one of the biggest causes of conflict is hardly the right way to go. Sneaking in new wind farms through the back door only creates more conflict, not less.
After the great opposition to onshore wind power, the government has given the impression that they will not repeat the same for offshore wind. The whole thing has now turned out to be just a trick. It's hardly us, the people they work for. When you look more closely at this matter, you also find that it is the community's money that they are now pouring over this project. One of the owners of METCenter is Karmøy municipality, which in March this year spent a total of NOK. NOK 800,000 of funds from the Aquaculture Fund for a share expansion in the company. Not only is the population robbed of our common natural areas for recreation, outdoor life and food, but it is also the population that is forced to pay for the crime through imposed taxes and fees. This is nothing less than a gigantic oversubsidized robbery.
The NMF demands in our consultation opinion that this application be rejected and withdrawn, and that all future applications must be clearly defined, specified and investigated with regard to all physical and technical characteristics FOR the application is put out for consultation. Such "free-from-the-imagination-concessions" as this cannot be accepted.
Support the signature campaign against the expansion of the offshore wind farm outside Karmøy. The link to the campaign can be found below. Sign and share.
- NRK Rogaland: The Norwegian Coastal Administration fears more ship accidents if the METCentre is expanded
- The Institute of Marine Research: Potential effects of offshore wind farms on the marine environment (page)
- The Institute of Marine Research: Potential effects of offshore wind farms on the marine environment (report 2020 - PDF)
- Institute of Marine Research: FH 2008 – 9 Marine ecological ripple effects of offshore wind farms (report 2008 PDF)
- Norwegian Environmental Protection Association: Consultation response to ECHA on the environmental hazards microplastics and bisphenol-A
- The Norwegian Environmental Protection Association's consultation response on offshore wind
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