The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) was given authority in 2020 to regulate safety and the working environment for renewables offshore. That covers developing regulations and supervising compliance, including for the offshore wind sector on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS).

These regulations will soon be the subject of a consultation process, confirms Sigve Knudsen, director for legal and regulatory affairs at the PSA.

High level for HSE

He identifies several main considerations underlying the new set of regulations, including a desire to maintain a high level of health, safety and the environment (HSE) in the new offshore industries.

“That’s a very clear mantra from the politicians, central government and both the companies and the unions in the sector,” Knudsen emphasises.

“Our starting point in the work has been the experience we’ve gained from petroleum operations, but we have also taken into account that the new industries have their own distinctive features and differ from oil/gas activities on a number of points.

“That’s sensible and logical, and it’s the way we’re accustomed to working – which is risk- and enterprise-based as well as cost-effective.”

The PSA team has also looked at how wind power is regulated on land in Norway and internationally, he adds.

Key principles

Some key principles were established at an early state in work on the regulations, Knudsen explains. That included drawing on inspiration from the petroleum regime in making them risk-based and system-oriented.

  • They were to reflect the risk conditions involved in the industry, and to clarify the responsibilities of the players.
  • As far as possible, their provisions would derive from and refer to existing regulations rather than creating new special rules in areas where that was unnecessary.
  • It was natural that an industry perspective was also applied in this development, and that the extension of the Norwegian Working Environment Act to this type of offshore activity was assumed.
  • The regulations would also regulate all types of offshore wind, including units like Hywind Tampen generating electricity for use on petroleum facilities.
  • Requirements in the regulations would be performance-based, with associated guidelines and references to recognised norms – primarily international standards.
  • And, finally, the regulations were to be developed in a dialogue with the parties.

Several of these principles are already familiar from Norway’s petroleum industry regulations.

Knudsen observes that experience from this approach to supervision is good and the transfer value has been high.

“Although renewable energy production represents a new type of enterprise, it has many elements in common with petroleum,” he points out. “The risk picture isn’t the same, but we see much of the same operational aspects since the work is also pursued offshore.

“The basic principles for regulating the petroleum business, such as location of responsibility, system orientation, risk- and performance-based requirements and so forth, have demonstrated their value.”

Discussions with the parties

The draft regulations have been developed in close contact with the parties in the industry, through the Regulatory Forum. Knudsen admits that this process has not been without friction and argument, nor free from opposition.

“When we began the work, it ran immediately into what I would call massive opposition,” he says. “The initial discussions with the parties in the forum were demanding and characterised by great scepticism, particularly from the employer organisations.

“They feared that the regulations would ‘take off’, drive costs up too much and be overdimensioned for the renewables business.”

He found some of the rhetoric encountered in the discussions a little questionable. “A term which very often recurs when talking about safety is the little word ‘but’. We hear typical formulations like ‘we’ll have a high level of health and safety, but we must remember that ...’. The effect of that ‘but’ is to overshadow the first part of the sentence.”

This is not acceptable, Knudsen emphasises. “We’ll have a high level of HSE in the new offshore industries as well. This goal is entrenched all the way to the top – in the government and the Storting [parliament].”

Good product

The proposed regulations represent an approach to supervising renewable energy operations which is risk-based, tailored to the activity and thereby also cost-efficient, says Knudsen. He also praises the contribution of the parties who have participated in the work.

“For much of the time, very positive and constructive dialogues have been conducted about how we can achieve good regulations for offshore renewable energy production. That’s resulted in the good product we now have.”