Daily Archives: April 15, 2017

The San Luis Obispo Tribune

Offshore wind could generate an onshore economic boom for the ... The San Luis Obispo Tribune Ocean winds that whip the Central Coast could be turned into an economic boom in the form of offshore wind turbines. But development of a floating wind ... and more »

See more here:

Offshore wind could generate an onshore economic boom for the ... - The San Luis Obispo Tribune

In Cheyenne, Wyoming, a small brick-faced house sits between a Greek Orthodox Church and a tired-looking barbershop. The structure does not stand out. Yet, according to court documents from several years ago, the innocuous-looking house once served as the fulcrum of a kleptocratic scheme. (Photo courtesy of Google)

In Cheyenne, Wyoming, a small brick-faced house sits between a Greek Orthodox Church and a tired-looking barbershop. The structure does not stand out. Yet, according to court documents from several years ago, the innocuous-looking house once served as the fulcrum of a kleptocratic scheme. A news story about the case described the Cheyenne house as a little Cayman Island on the Great Plains. The house, documents showed, hosted a shell company that purportedly owned $72 million in Ukrainian real estate. These properties were but a portion of the assets connected to Pavlo Lazarenko, who served as prime minister of Ukraine in 1996-97, and who was once characterized by the watchdog group Transparency International (TI) as one of the worlds top 10 kleptocrats. TI estimated that Lazarenko stole $200 million during his time in office. The Cheyenne address highlights an often overlooked link between post-Soviet kleptocrats and American entities one that has been only reinforced by actions of American officials in Washington and many state houses. The ugly truth is that many federal and state entities in the United States have made it easy for foreigners (and American citizens alike) to set up shell companies, or use other vehicles that can hide illicitly obtained assets. This puts the United States in an awkward position: some federal agencies have emerged as leaders in a global effort to uncover and recover dark money, while other federal and state entities have made it easy for dark money to flow into the United States. Washington has pushed for some highly successful international anti-kleptocracy initiatives including those focused on Central Asia in the past decade. One recent example is the case against Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of Uzbekistans former dictator. Yet all the while, internal actions of American officials make it easy for these same kleptocrats to stash funds in the United States, if they so choose. The dark money flowing into the United States comes from around the globe, yet many prominent cases that have come to light recently can be traced back to Eurasia. Apart from Lazarenko and Karimova, they include the case connected to the arms dealer Viktor Bout. The post-Soviet region also featured prominently in a 2015 risk assessment prepared by the US Justice Department on money laundering. The report estimated that some $300 billion is generated annually in illicit proceeds in the United States, going on to single out Eurasian organized crime groups as a particular concern. In accessing the American offshore industry, the report noted, Eurasian groups make systemic use of sophisticated schemes using US banking institutions and US-incorporated shell companies. The paper added that US-based suspected shell companies have moved billions of dollars globally from foreign accounts, especially from countries like Russia and Latvia. The American offshore industrys rise owes to two realities, one related to flaws in federal regulations, and the other connected to individual states. First, federal officials have shown little interest in implementing a key proposed reform: establishing a national registry that would identify people who benefit from setting up shell companies in the United States. A database of this kind could become a primary tool to rein in these entities, many of them outwardly legal. A World Bank report noted that although the United States sees 10 times more legal entities formed annually than 41 global tax havens combined, it is impossible to distinguish shell companies from operational firms. Second, state-level officials have largely turned a blind eye to the problem. The revenue generated under the status quo appears to outweigh other considerations. Not only in Wyoming, but also in states such as Delaware, Nevada, and South Dakota, officials have stonewalled moves to encourage financial transparency. A common line of reasoning used to resist reform was mentioned in a recent statement from the Wyoming Secretary of States office: The release of the Panama Papers has led to some renewed calls for transparency and the revealing of beneficial ownership information for entities registered not just in Wyoming, but across the United States. Such a move would increase red tape and limit business formation and innovation in Wyoming We are not naive as to the importance of the release of these Panama Papers, but we will not compromise the privacy of our customers. Whereas officials in Europe have promoted greater oversight in certain offshore areas, their American counterparts have stalled any significant changes. Even the release of the Panama Papers, which last year shed light on the finances of ruling families in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, did little to generate momentum for reform in the United States. Buttressed by strong secrecy provisions and independent court systems, the United States has joined the likes of Switzerland and the British Virgin Islands as a leading money haven. As the Cambridge University scholar J.C. Sharman wrote in his book Despots Guide to Wealth Management, there is strong reason to think that the United States is the worst in the world when it comes to regulating shell companies.

Editor's note:

Read more:

The US Offshore Industry and the Eurasian Connection - EurasiaNet - EurasiaNet

The Ontario government says it has paid a $28-million award that a NAFTA tribunal ruled was owed to a wind power company over a provincial offshore wind moratorium.

Windstream Energy had a 300-megawatt project planned in eastern Ontario when the provincial government abruptly enacted the moratorium in February 2011.

The company took its complaint to a NAFTA tribunal that partially ruled in Windstream's favour, awarding it about $25 million in damages for unfair and inequitable treatment as well as about $3 million in legal fees.

Payment was due within 30 days of the Sept. 30 ruling and Windstream went to court in February to ask it to enforce the award.

Windstream was also seeking the interest it was awarded 2.7 per cent, compounded annually, from Nov. 1, 2016 until the date of payment.

The total paid was $28,095,332, which includes about $240,000 in interest, according to a spokesman for Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault.

Thibeault defended the moratorium despite that cost.

"Part of that is making sure that we get things right and that's why we're asking the (Ministry of the Environment) to further study some implications that are relating to offshore wind," he said. "We don't want to have (offshore wind turbines) up and then realize that there's something that we would have to do to take these down that has even bigger complications."

Five government-commissioned studies have been completed since 2011 on impacts on fish, other environmental impacts, sound and decommissioning requirements. The Liberal government is now looking to an Ohio-based offshore wind project in the Great Lakes for more data.

Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown said he's concerned taxpayers are footing the bill for government errors.

"If you look at all the staff time, legal costs that went into this, the bill could be much larger, so it's just another example of a government that has their mistakes, their miscalculations everyone else in Ontario is paying for it," he said.

NDP deputy leader Jagmeet Singh said provinces should, in general, have the autonomy to make policy decisions, but this one could have been handled better.

"With this government we've seen opportunities where the government could have saved taxpayers from spending enormous amounts of money like the gas plant scandals," he said.

The government's decision to cancel two gas plants prior to the 2011 election came at a cost of up to $1.1 billion.

Trillium Power Wind also had an offshore wind project in the works at the time of the moratorium, and that company has sued the Ontario government for $500 million for misfeasance in public office.

The Liberal government is also under criminal investigation stemming from Trillium's claim. The company alleged in the lawsuit that government officials destroyed documents after the company sued over the government's cancellation of a Lake Ontario wind project and the provincial police are investigating.

None of Trillium's allegations have been proven in court.

In its statement of defence, the government says it was a coincidence that the moratorium and cancellations were issued just before Trillium's financing was set to close.

View original post here:

Ontario pays $28-million awarded to wind company over offshore wind moratorium - National Observer

April 13, 2017 12:12 ET | Source: DONG Energy A/S

In the first of two German auction rounds, the Bundesnetzagentur has today awarded DONG Energy the right to build three offshore wind projects in the German North Sea. DONG Energy submitted six projects in the bid and won with the following three projects which have a total capacity of 590MW:

OWP West (240MW) Borkum Riffgrund West 2 (240MW) Gode Wind 3 (110MW)

The three projects are planned to be commissioned in 2024, subject to Final Investment Decision by DONG Energy in 2021.

Samuel Leupold, Executive Vice President and CEO of Wind Power at DONG Energy, says: Were pleased with being awarded three projects in the first of two German auction rounds, and we have good opportunities to add further capacity to our winning projects in next years German auction. Todays results contribute to our ambition of driving profitable growth by adding approximately 5GW of additional capacity by 2025.

Breakthrough zero bid For two of the projects OWP West and Borkum Riffgrund West 2 DONG Energy made bids at zero EUR per MWh, i.e. these projects will not receive a subsidy on top of the wholesale electricity price. The Gode Wind 3 project was awarded based on a bid price of EUR 60 per MWh.

Samuel Leupold says: The zero subsidy bid is a breakthrough for the cost competitiveness of offshore wind, and it demonstrates the technology's massive global growth potential as a cornerstone in the economically viable shift to green energy systems. Cheaper clean energy will benefit governments and consumers and not least help meet the Paris COP21 targets to fight climate change. Still its important to note that the zero bid is enabled by a number of circumstances in this auction. Most notably, the realization window is extended to 2024. This allows developers to apply the next generation turbine technology, which will support a major step down in costs. Also, the bid reflects the fact that grid connection is not included.

Samuel Leupold continues: Financial discipline is key to us. We are of course reflecting the projects exposure to market risk in the cost of capital applied. We see a solid value creation potential in this German project portfolio and will now begin to further mature the projects towards a Final Investment Decision (FID) in 2021.

Volker Malmen, country manager in DONG Energy Germany, says: Making green energy cheaper than black has for years been part of DONG Energy's strategic ambition. Offshore wind is fully capable of replacing retiring power plants and to become the backbone of Germanys energy transition, and I hope that todays encouraging results will inspire an accelerated and higher volume build-out of offshore wind in Germany and motivate the electrification of transportation and heating.

DONG Energy will be responsible for the turbines, array cables and offshore substation, while grid operator TenneT will be responsible for construction, operation and ownership of the onshore substation and the export cable.

DONG Energy currently has 902MW of offshore wind in operation in German waters with Gode Wind 1&2 and Borkum Riffgrund 1 and another 450MW under construction at Borkum Riffgrund 2, which is expected to be commissioned in 2019. In total, DONG Energy operates 3,600MW offshore wind capacity across Germany, UK and Denmark and has a further 3,800GW under construction.

Cost-drivers enabling the zero subsidy bid

Platform change: Significantly bigger turbines probably 13-15MW will be on the market by 2024. With bigger turbines, the developer can increase electricity production while at the same time reduce the number of turbine positions. This contributes significantly to cost reductions during construction (fewer towers and array cables, and lower costs for installation vessels and manpower) as well as during a lifetime of operations and maintenance.

Scale: OWP West and Borkum Riffgrund West 2 will be combined into one large-scale project with the option of adding additional volume in next years auction to further increase the total size of the project.

Location: The projects benefit from average wind speeds of more than 10 m/s, which is among the highest wind speeds measured across DONG Energys portfolio of wind farms. Also, the projects are located next to DONG Energys Borkum Riffgrund 1&2 which means that operations and maintenance can be done from DONG Energys existing O&M hub in Norddeich.

Extended lifetime: The German authorities have approved the possibility to extend the operational lifetime of the asset from 25 to 30 years.

Not full scope: Developers were not bidding for the grid connection in the German auction, which means that grid connection is not included in the bid price.

The above drivers deliver a cost-of-electricity below our forecasted wholesale power price and will allow us to create value and meet our return requirements at the expected market prices without subsidies. Compared to German power price forecasts available from leading research firms, we consider our price forecast to be relatively conservative. We have applied a higher cost-of-capital than in previous projects to reflect the potential increase in market price exposure.

The cost reductions required for a German project without subsidies are fully feasible, both technically and commercially. Towards a final investment decision in 2021, DONG Energy will monitor the key factors which will determine long-term power prices in Germany. These factors include the impact of EU actions to reinvigorate the European carbon trading scheme; the phase-out of conventional and nuclear capacity; the future role of coal in Europe; and the build-out of onshore transmission grids.

The information provided in this announcement does not change DONG Energys previous financial guidance for the financial year of 2017 or the announced expected investment level for 2017.

Further information

Media Relations Tom Lehn-Christiansen +45 99 55 60 17

Investor Relations Henrik Brnniche Lund +45 99 55 97 22 hebrl@dongenergy.dk

DONG Energy (NASDAQ OMX: DENERG) is one of Northern Europe's leading energy groups and is headquartered in Denmark. Around 6,200 ambitious employees develop, construct and operate offshore wind farms, generate heat and power from our power stations as well as supply and trade in energy to wholesale, business and residential customers. In addition, we produce oil and gas, and a process has been initiated to divest this business unit. The continuing part of the Group has approx 5,800 employees and generated a revenue in 2016 of DKK 61 billion (EUR 8.2 billion). Read more on http://www.dongenergy.com.

Related Articles

Read the rest here:

DONG Energy awarded three German offshore wind projects - GlobeNewswire (press release)

While the doldrums of winter terrorizes the offshore angler, March bookmarks the beginning of the prized offshore fishing season in the Palmetto State. From the springtime, well into the height of the summer sizzler, an entire gamete of pelagic and bottom dwellers arrive with a hearty appetite within reach of Charlestons offshore armada. For anglers looking for a quick cure for cabin fever, an offshore adventure into the crystal blue waters of the Atlantic is the perfect medicine.

If Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto had been fortunate enough to have rigged ballyhoo, a couple Penn Internationals and a set of outriggers, he may never have discovered Charlestons inland treasures because his April 1540 sailing coincided right when the offshore grounds fill with a true cache of culinary riches.

Captain Gasper Marino of WadmacallitFishing Charters is a modern day conquistador who operates out of a 57-foot custom Carolina boat rigged to the hilts with all the bells and whistles needed to load up a giant fish box with tasty treasures. From tuna, wahoo, sailfish and dolphin to grouper, snapper and trigger fish, Marino is dialed in on Charlestons offshore medley as soon as they arrive.

Beginning in the early spring, wahoo become very active and we get a big push of adult black-fin tuna that can be as big as 20 to 30 pounds, according to Marino, who operates out of Mount Pleasant. Blackfin tuna arrive from Florida migrating through our waters on their way to North Carolina.

Mid-March is the beginning of the northern migration within reach of South Carolina offshore anglers. For Marino, a temperature break is not his primary indicator the fish have arrived.

I catch tuna in a wide range of temperatures ranging from the 60s to well into the upper 70s. The bait is the key. I look for heavy concentrations of bait I typically find several miles nearshore of the Stream itself, he said.

Tuna are voracious opportunistic feeders similar to other top level predatory game fish. Tuna use the Gulf Stream as a travel guide along their northern journey. Typically, tuna move inland into shallower waters trailing warm water plumes or spinoffs from the Gulf Stream that creates ideal conditions for forage for bait fishes, especially during March and April season. Plankton is attracted to the cooler coastal water lower in salinity and more nutrient rich.

A freshly rigged bait is ready for trolling.

We will often cover a lot of ground when tuna fishing to find them day after day. But if you find the bait, you will find the tuna, Marino said.

During the active migration, tuna will be anywhere from 45 to 65 miles from shore and can move great distances day to day. Marino hedges his bets by adjusting his target area by five to 10 miles north of where he caught them the day before.

While tuna may be the target, wahoo will find these bait-filled waters as well to make a living. Marino uses a tactic to catch both wahoo and tuna that incorporates a heavy spread of options from his 10 to 14 rods rigged with various skirted and naked ballyhoo on heavy monofilament and at a variety of depths and distances from the boat.

Every day is different and there is no equation to it at all; its trial and error. Sometimes skipping bait is what they want and other days, you need to keep the baits below the surface, he said.

He mixes up weight sizes from 1/16th to one-ounce heads and he makes adjustments based on his success throughout the day.

Beyond tackle, bait quality is Marinos most important success factor.

We procure bait from a company that handles the bait better than all of the competition. The fresher and better-handled bait gives us an advantage, he said.

As the spring progresses toward summer, another pelagic favorite shows up off Charlestons coastlines. Dolphin arrive offshore that quickly brings an entire new squadron of anglers into the big blue waters. Dolphin migrate into South Carolina waters in the late spring in a big way where double-digit catches are reached in a very short amount of time. Marino relies on his network of anglers across Florida and Georgia to pinpoint when the dolphin will arrive off the Charleston coast.

I keep an eye out on what is happening in South Florida and once they start catching them in Savannah, it will be a matter of days when they will be in our waters, he said.

Differing from wahoo and tuna, dolphin are temperature-dependent fishes that prefer 74- to 77-degree waters. But, they can be anywhere from 40 to 70 miles offshore this time of year and knowing what to look for is critical for blitzing these ferocious schooling fishes.

An angler prepares to gaff a dolphinfish.

On a normal dolphin trip, we expect to run 70 to 80 miles. We look for currents, color changes, weed lines, floating objects or just anything different. We will not start fishing until we see something different and if the fish dont bite right away, we pick up and move to another spot, he said.

Dolphin will eat anything that moves or resembles food and their metabolisms require it to fuel their astronomical growth rates. Dolphin are among the fastest growing fish in the ocean, which requires a high-calorie diet, and being choosy isn't part of their character. Therefore, Marinos typical bait buffet he uses for wahoo and tuna can quickly double for nailing a school of dolphin with a couple exceptions.

I pull the baits a little closer to the boat and I start using teasers to attract the fish to the boat, he said.

The dolphin run usually gets hot and heavy during the middle of May and will continue for three to four weeks well into the month of June at the start of the summer season. After the major migration of dolphin and blackfin tuna travel northward into North Carolina and Virginia, Charlestons offshore trolling bite quickly gets reduced to sporty anglers with an arousal for an entirely different target, the legendary assortment of billfish.

From July through August, we still catch a few tuna, wahoo and dolphin trolling our ballyhoo spread, but its the marlin and sailfish that keeps our trolling charters in action, he said.

Marino will switch his tactics to dredge fishing using different types of teasers that run deep. Billfishing isnt always action-packed like the spring rush, but a good day pulling lures and fighting a 500-pound marlin can make a lifelong dream a reality.

We can have great days trolling in summer for marlin. One of my best days was in the middle of July when we caught three blue marlin, he said.

For many offshore aficionados, trolling a 13-rod set for pelagic species is what makes their engines purr. But, there is an entire underworld filled with dozens of different bottom-dwelling species one can catch any time of the year and its the best way to guarantee a cooler-full of fillets to take back to the dock.

For Marino, his bottom-fishing charter requests take off during the height of the summer when most of the ocean fishes have migrated north. Yet, the summertime fishing isnt the only time these fish are available.

We have good bottom fishing off Charleston 12 months out of the year. Whatever is in season is what we will target and the spring and summer bite is always good, he said.

From grouper and snapper to triggerfish and sea bass, the fishing can be epic at a wide range of depths.

We have good bottom fishing between 30 and 250 feet deep along the continental shelf. As you go deeper, the species mix changes, he said.

For the best success bottomfishing any time of year, Marino has learned to target small sections of structure that few other anglers would choose to make a drop.

Anglers toll for tuna aboard the JABEZ.

The small reefs and rock piles are usually the best because they are unknown to most offshore boats, he said.

Large reefs, rock piles, ledges and other live bottom areas easily detected on GPS charts are well known and likely fished out. The best bottom fishing places are less noticeable.

Bottom fish species make a living scavenging the reefs for food. They will eat just about anything from live fish and crustaceans to chunks of cut squid. Marino will use a wide variety of baits and lures throughout the day to see what brings the most bites.

I use bucktails and butterfly jigs, as well as cut fish and live fish, but the best all around bait is cut squid, he said. Everything down there will eat cut squid.

The spring and summer months offer pure passion in the waters off the coast of Charleston where offshore anglers earn their keep out of the blue. Charlestons offshore playground kicks off strong early in the spring and shifts into high gear as the peak of the summer arrives where few days pass without high hopes on the way out and big smiles on the return.

Follow this link:

Out of theblue: Offshore season heats up - Charleston Post Courier