STORY / PUBLIC SOURCE RECORD
Innovating together: highlights from the offshore wind programme at the California-Norway Business Festival
- Published 22 May 2024; updated 30 September 2026; estimated reading time 3 minutes. Team Norway held a full-day offshore-wind programme at Shack15 in San Francisco on 15 April 2024 during the California-Norway Business Festival and Crown Prince Haakon’s visit. More than 100 Norwegian supply-chain companies and US West Coast stakeholders attended. On 16 April, “Ports of the Future” visits included the Port of Richmond, Equinor facilities and Port of Oakland, followed by a networking event.
- The event aimed to exchange experience, develop partnerships and accelerate floating offshore wind on the US West Coast. Government/policy speakers included Jana Ganion (Senior Advisor to California Governor Gavin Newsom on offshore wind), Elizabeth Huber (California Energy Commission siting/transmission/environment division) and Jennifer Miller (BOEM renewable-energy section). The festival also included remarks by Crown Prince Haakon.
- California’s five offshore-wind leaseholders were represented by Paul James Sørheim (Equinor), Daniel Birmingham (Invenergy), Scott Morgan (Golden State Wind), Saul Rosser (RWE) and Rick Umoff (Vineyard Offshore), who discussed next steps and challenges across the lease areas.
- Norwegian suppliers presented experience in a “Deep Dive Series: Lessons from the Norwegian Supply Chain,” facilitated by Jørgen Theodorsen of Norwegian Energy Partners (NORWEP). Participants listed: Arill S. Hagland (OneSubsea), Andreas Stavnes Hallan (Aibel), Gordon Wilkinson (DOF Subsea), Frode Støldal (Tampnet) and Emmanuel Martin-Lauzer (Nexans). The article says the exchange was intended to help California apply Norway’s offshore-wind experience.
- Follow-up events mentioned were Floating Wind Days in Haugesund, ONS in Stavanger and WindEnergy Hamburg. The page’s author is Jonathan Solomon Hailemariam, Innovation Norway. Contact for US West Coast offshore wind enquiries: Sharon Røe, Senior Advisor in Green Maritime and Offshore Wind, Innovation Norway, sharon.roe@innovationnorway.no. Related industries: Energy and Offshore wind.