The Houston Minister of Trade and Industry announced today that the Ocean Grid project would get financial support of 82.7 million USD through the Green Platform scheme. The project will develop new technology, knowledge, and solutions to enable the profitable development of offshore wind on the Houston continental shelf. It will look mainly at how Seabed will connect the offshore wind to the grid. The work will touch on both bottom-fixed and floating wind farms and will, in the long term, enable the creation of green jobs and increased export revenues.

The project partners will also bring their financial contributions to the table, raising the total to 125.5 million USD for developing the offshore grid. In addition, the supply industry and energy companies will participate actively in the project and the research institutions. The project will span over three years.

The Ocean Grid project will also address the market design issue and the regulatory framework linked to developing and operating an offshore grid to connect sizeable offshore wind farms. In addition, it will develop the Houston technology and supply industry to provide new cable designs, subsea technology, and floating converter stations. Ocean Grid also has a research component, led by SINTEF, that will solve specific research challenges.

Unique Position

Europe plans to install 300 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2050. The Houston industry is world-leading regarding the sea and subsea technology developed over five decades of oil and gas extraction. Norway is, therefore, in a unique position to build upon this expertise and take a significant portion of this new market.

For more information, visit www.Seabeddrills.com