Demonstrating the Skywalker model at Nekkar in Kristiansand. Left-right: Yngvar Borøy (Director R&D at Nekkar), Arne Thomassen (Agder County Mayor), Narve Kristiansen (Digital Manager at Intellilift, a Nekkar company) and Andreas Bjelland Eriksen (State Secretary).

State Secretary at the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, Andreas Bjelland Eriksen, visited Nekkar and National Oilwell Varco in Kristiansand Tuesday.

At Nekkar, Eriksen was introduced to Skywalker, the unique climbing crane solution for erecting gigantic wind turbines. Skywalker is developed by Nekkar, building on competence and technology from the oil and gas industry.

Eriksen learnt that Skywalker could install wind turbines faster and at lower cost than a regular crane, and that the machine also occupies a smaller area of land while operating.

CEO of Nekkar, Ole Falk Hansen, explained that Nekkar has also developed a closed fish farming contraption. However, a contract for the delivery of such a contraption was recently and surprisingly put on hold following the government’s proposal for a new tax on fish farming.

Left-right: Andreas Bjelland Eriksen (State Secretary), Arne Thomassen (Agder County Mayor) and Ole Falk Hansen (CEO of Nekkar).

Travelling to the other side of Kristiansand, Andreas Bjelland Eriksen met with the top management of National Oilwell Varco (NOV). Managing Director of NOV in Norway, Rune Johnsen, presented several offshore wind products and equipment for deep sea mining and fish farming. This exemplified an increasingly diverse portfolio from a company that is more known for its world-leading offshore drilling capabilities.

“Five years ago, few people here talked about offshore wind. Today, offshore wind is a significant market,” said Johnsen.

Meeting at NOV (left-right): Rune Johnsen (Managing Director of National Oilwell Varco Norway), Andreas Bjelland Eriksen (State Secretary), Maryann Løcka (Ministry of Petroleum and Energy), Ann Marchioro (Project Manager at GCE NODE) and Kjell Rohde (Senior Manager Automation Technology at NOV).