German energy firm RWE has joined forces with Norwegian peer Equinor and metals maker Norsk Hydro to take part in Norway's first offshore wind tender, the companies said on Wednesday.
The acreage where the tender is held is known as Soerlige Nordsjoe II, which borders the Danish sector of the North Sea. "The area ... is ideally located for the supply of electricity to Europe," the three firms said in a statement.
RWE, Equinor and Hydro will jointly prepare and apply to Norwegian authorities to develop a large-scale wind farm with turbines fixed to the seabed, although they did not provide details about the size of the project.
"A large-scale offshore wind farm at Soerlige Nordsjoe II could play a key role in expanding the North Sea as an offshore energy hub and create new industrial opportunities for Norway as an energy nation," said Equinor renewables chief Paal Eitrheim.
On Tuesday, another group of companies, including Germany's EnBW, said it intended to compete for acreage in the same part of the southern Norwegian North Sea.
(Reporting by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Ramakrishnan M.)