“Issuing these proposals is a red-letter day for us at the PSA,” says Sigve Knudsen, the authority’s director for legal and regulatory affairs. “We and our partners in the Regulatory Forum have been working on them for a long time.”

The draft regulations are adapted to new industrial operations involved in producing renewable energy offshore and have been formulated to be risk-based and enterprise-tailored.

“We’ve accumulated much experience and knowledge through several years of collaboration with players in the sector, both in Norway and internationally,” says Knudsen. “That’s been applied to formulate regulations tailored to the requirements of regulating this new industry in Norway.”

Inspiration has been drawn from the existing Norwegian petroleum regulations, particularly with regard to the regulatory approach.  The way wind power is regulated on land and internationally has also been taken into account.

Collaboration

“Despite disagreements along the way, I believe our collaboration with the parties in the industry has been useful for highlighting the different viewpoints and creating the best possible regulations,” says Knudsen. “We’re now looking forward to constructive input from the consultation process.”

This is due to last for three months. Once the deadline has passed, the PSA will review the responses received before the final regulations are promulgated.

Consultation documents are available in Norwegian only. See Norwegian version.