COPENHAGEN, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Five of the seven groups that sought to take part in Norway's first commercial wind farm tender have been approved to take part in the auction that starts on March 18, the country's energy ministry said on Friday.

The five groups are a consortium between Aker Offshore Wind, BP and Statkraft, one between Equinor and RWE, Energie Baden-Wurttemberg, a joint project proposed by Shell, Lyse and Eviny and a cooperation between Parkwind and Ingka.

Chinese wind turbine maker Mingyang Smart Energy failed to qualify, as did the company Hydroelectric Corporation. The ministry did not say why the two were left out.

The tender offers the opportunity to build bottom-fixed wind turbines in the North Sea with a capacity of 1.5 gigawatts (GW), in what Norway hopes will be the starting point for massive offshore power developments in the years leading up to 2040.

Shell

said

this week it has not yet decided whether to bid in the auction. (Reporting by Stine Jacobsen, editing by Terje Solsvik and Anna Ringstrom)