Photo/Illutration A view of the offshore wind farm Hywind Tampen in the North Sea off Norway on Aug. 23, 2023 (NTB via Reuters)

Two Japanese power companies are a part of a consortium that won a bid to develop Norway’s first offshore wind farm, the Norwegian energy department announced on March 20.

The winning bid for the project was made by a group consisting of Ingka Group, which owns the IKEA furniture store chain, and Parkwind, a Belgian company acquired by thermal power plant operator JERA Co. in 2023.

JERA is a joint venture between TEPCO Fuel & Power Inc. and Chubu Electric Power Co.

The wind turbines will be constructed on the continental shelf in the North Sea and are scheduled to be operational by 2030.

The wind farm is expected to generate 1.5 gigawatts of electricity. The Norwegian government will contribute up to 23 billion krones (about 322 billion yen, or $2.1 billion) to the project.

Because Norway has abundant natural gas and petroleum supplies, it has lagged behind other northern European nations in the development of renewable energy sources.

The Norwegian government has set a goal of generating 30 gigawatts of electricity through offshore wind farms by 2040.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre attended the news conference where the announcement was made. He said his government would hold more auctions for additional wind farm construction projects in the years ahead.

Norwegian energy company Equinor also took part in the auction.

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