Monthly Archives: March 2021

As offshore wind goes from strength to strength in Europe, some might believe that all Asia needs to do is copy what the industry did there and the region can emulate, or even surpass, that success. Unfortunately, its not as simple as that.

The technical challenges developers will face are a key reason why Asia cant simply replicate Europes offshore wind journey. Europe does not have typhoons, high seismicity, deep faulting, thick soft marine deposits, and hard volcanic and metamorphic sedimentary rock seabeds. Asia does.

Overcoming these challenges will require new methods of analysis and stronger structures. For example, monopiles are used for 90% of European developments but they may not always be suitable in Asia. Many of the most promising areas in Asia do not have the competent seabed stratum required for hammering or vibrating monopiles into place.

So, some situations may require alternative foundation systems including piled jackets, suction buckets or even self-installing gravity-based structures. Requiring no piles and no specialised installation vessels, gravity-based structures maximise the use of both local labour and materials. They could be a good option for many locations in Asia.

The limited availability of shallow water depths less than 50 metres means that commercial scale floating systems could develop rapidly, especially in the waters around Japan, Korea and Taiwan.

Asia could use its experience honed in areas such as automotive manufacturing of producing technology cheaply and efficiently on a commercial scale to surpass Europe in floating offshore wind.

Whatever the specific technical solution, local expertise will be key to catering for local factors. At Arup, were seeing clients across Asia looking for sophisticated engineering skills for their offshore wind projects.

Asia can have the best of both worlds.

In Europe, the open market meant local consultants, designers and contractors developed supply chains through organic growth to service the work locally. Asia can have the best of both worlds; involving experienced European consultants and contractors is enabling them to rapidly develop their own skills through technology transfer.

Taiwan is successfully following this approach, having encouraged many established European contractors to join its auctions independently. By compelling these contractors to engage with local manufacturers and suppliers, it hopes to establish a local supply chain to serve both the Taiwanese markets and the rest of Asia.

Japan and Korea have well established contracting bases capable of tackling large-scale infrastructure projects. However, because they lack experience in offshore wind, these local groups have also formed alliances with established European contractors to learn quickly and are now preparing for the initial auctions.

For Japans first large-scale commercial offshore wind farm close to the Akita and Noshiro Ports, Arups local and international teams worked successfully with local EPC contractors and the local regulators, ClassNK, to develop designs. Expertise on the ground has proved vital in steering the project through the first to be approved by the local statutory checking authority in Japan and in establishing an accepted design process for the future.

In procurement, Asia has learnt from, and improved on, the European approach. Taiwan, Japan and Korea have all moved more rapidly than Europe did from feed-in tariff schemes to an auction process or renewable energy certification system. This will encourage more competitive supply chains.

With the market progressing rapidly, weve invested in building our local capability because we believe that combining the best of European experience with local expertise is the right approach to unlock opportunities in an Asian market that is expected to reach 100GW of installed capacity by 2030.

See the article here:

Why Asia's coming offshore wind boom can't just be a carbon copy of Europe's | Recharge - Recharge

The Netherlands-based Ampelmann has secured contracts to provide its offshore access systems for five undisclosed offshore wind projects in Taiwan.

The contracts were signed in the first quarter of the year and include various Ampelmann systems to be used.

According to the Dutch company, one of the milestones is the first use of the Ampelmann E1000 system in the APACregion. The E1000 will provide offshore access for personnel and cargo in the construction phase of a Taiwanese wind farm.

The other four projects will all see the use of an A-type, operating in Taiwanese waters.

Securing these projects in the renewables market marks a turning point for the APAC region, as operations in the region used to be solely in Oil & Gas, said Ramesh Namasivayam, Business Developer at Ampelmann. This move requires the effort of our whole team and inspires us to get involved in many more projects in the region.

In September 2020, Ampelmann revealed it had signed a contract with Seaway 7 for an offshore wind project in Taiwan, representing the companys first foray into the Taiwanese market.

Read the original post:

Ampelmann Scores Five Offshore Taiwan - Offshore WIND

March 30 (Renewables Now) - Norway-based professional services company DNV said it has been appointed by Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) to serve as the owners engineer for the 300-MW Changhua Phase II offshore wind project in Taiwanese waters.

The contract is worth USD 17.7 million (EUR 15.1m).

The scope of the job will keep DNV busy into the second half of 2025. The company said its team will support project engineering reviews and marine coordination during wind farm construction. Other assignments will include design review, fabrication assurance, and construction assurance.

DNV will work in partnership with Taiwan-based engineering consultancy GIBSIN Engineers Ltd. (GIBSIN).

The Changhua Phase II project envisions the installation of 31 wind turbines. Detailed design of the project is due to be finalised in 2021, while the wind farm is scheduled to go online by autumn 2025, DNV added.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.854)

Read this article:

DNV wins owner's engineer gig on 300-MW offshore wind project in Taiwan - Renewables Now

Jack-up vessels are in high demand in Chinas surging offshore wind market and OHTs fleet of semi-submersible heavy transportation vessels is working on delivering them to this construction hot spot.

This includes the transportation of DEME Offshores Apollo from Rotterdam and the transportation of two additional liftboats and a jack-up barge from Abu Dhabi in the UAE.

The four units are being transported to various locations in China, all destined for installation projects in the Chinese offshore wind market.

Three of OHTs five heavy transport vessels are presently transporting assets to China which will each begin installation on three separate Chinese wind farms.

MV Falcon recently transported the jack-up barge JB118 from Abu Dhabi, UAE, to Guangzhou, China, and has discharged the liftboat QMS Gladiator in Xiamen, where she will be utilized for the Changle offshore wind installation project.

The liftboat, measuring over 100 metres in length and weighing more than 10,000 MT, was transported from Abu Dhabi in the UAE.

MV Albatross is mobilizing to transport the nearly 15,000 MT jack-up wind turbine installation vessel Apollo, from Rotterdam in the Netherlands to Guangzhou in China, where she will be working on the Yuedian Shaba offshore wind installation project.

Apollo is on a vessel charter with Chinas CREC and will be deployed on turbine installation projects across several offshore wind farms in the coming months, a spokesperson for DEME told Offshore WIND.

Meanwhile, MV Osprey, also headed to Guangzhou, is preparing to transport another self-elevating platform from Abu Dhabi, UAE, with arrival estimated in May. The liftboat will be used for offshore construction projects in Southern China.

Roald Kaper, Head of Transportation for OHT said: These contracts are significant for OHT, aligning our strong market leading position in transportation with our vision to be a leading player in the transport and installation of offshore wind turbines, contributing to a sustainable energy supply for the future.

The company announced its entry to the offshore wind installation market in 2018 with the order of the foundation installation vessel, Alfa Lift. Since then, further announcements were made in 2020 which will see OHTs installation fleet grow with the introduction of a next-generation wind turbine installation vessel, plus options for three more.

The globalisation of offshore wind presents huge opportunities for OHT. The sector is strong and growing rapidly, said Torgeir E. Ramstad, CEO of OHT.

The vast offshore wind developments in China, which is fast overtaking the UK in terms of installed capacity, demands an ever-increasing requirement for installation and maintenance equipment and vessels. Our trusted fleet of transportation vessels are ideal for ensuring the right assets are delivered to the relevant locations at the right time.

Why the Offshore Wind Rush in China?

Back in 2019, China introduced price-based tenders and announced that the feed-in-tariff rate for projects consented in future tenders would be phased out for 2022, requiring bid prices to compete with wholesale market rates from then on.

In order to qualify for the feed-in-tariffs, developers which have been successful in lease auctions since 2019 must commission the projects by the end of 2021. This has resulted in a development rush that saw over 5 GW of new capacity come online in 2020, with over 10 GW at various stages of construction at the end of 2020.

At the end of 2020, China had 9,898 MW of installed offshore wind capacity, only 308 MW less than the UK which had 10,206 MW of installed capacity and is still holding the top spot.

China accounted for more than a half (3,060 MW) of the worlds installed offshore wind capacity (6 GW) in 2020.

Read more here:

Jack-Ups Flock to China as Offshore Wind Construction Surges - Offshore WIND

Austal USA rendering of steel facility at its Alabama shipyard. Austal USA Image

The Austal USA shipyard in Alabama that specializes in aluminum ship construction is officially on its way to also offering steel ships, breaking ground on a new facility on Friday meant to open up new business opportunities with the Navy and Coast Guard in the short term.

By April 2022, the yard will be transformed to have separate production lines and facilities for aluminum ships and steel ships the former continuing to build Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport ships (EPFs), the company hopes, and the latter building the Offshore Patrol Cutter, the Light Amphibious Warship or eventually the Constellation-class frigate, Larry Ryder, the companys new vice president of business development and external affairs, told USNI News on Friday.

Weve been a great builder of aluminum ships; we want to become the Navys premier builder of these mid-sized steel ships going forward, Ryder said.

The companys module manufacturing facility will be split in half, with a wall dividing the steel side and aluminum side to keep components and tools in their proper areas. The yard will also build a paint and blast facility and a panel line but despite working with a new material, Ryder said the companys manufacturing processes, employee training and other qualities will carry through to the new business line.

We just want to continue to build ships for the Navy, and whatever the requirements are if they want aluminum ships, they want steel ships were going to be able to do both down here at the yard in Mobile. I think were making a pretty significant investment in the company and in expanding our capabilities going forward, and thats our intent. Weve continued to grow throughout our history, and this is just the latest step in that evolution of our capabilities, Ryder said.

USNS Burlington (T-EPF-10)roll-out on Feb. 28, 2018, at the Austal USA yard in Mobile, Ala. Austal photo

Austal USA received $50 million last year as part of the COVID-19 pandemic economic recovery measure, in an effort to stimulate the local economy with jobs at the yard and in the construction companies that will be building the new facilities. Austal USA matched that investment, for a total of $100 million going towards bringing another steel shipbuilding capability to the Gulf Coast. Ryder said some employees will be trained to work on steel ships, and some new personnel will be hired to bring new skillsets to the yard to support the new work.

Our focus in the near term is on the Navys light amphibious warship program, LAW, and the Coast Gards offshore patrol cutter, OPC. We think both of those programs are really in the sweet spot of the size of ship that our yard is optimized for, Ryder said of the kind of work they hope to tackle first.So were driving hard to have this project complete and to be competing for those two programs. And down the road, as youre well aware, we werent successful in our bid for the frigate, but our plan is to be the Navys follow yard when they compete that program for the frigate design. So well be ready to build the Fincantieri steel monohull frigate down here in the next few years when the Navy goes forward with that plan.

Ryder said those three ships represent not just the size ship Austal USA is optimized for, but the complexity in terms of the modules that would be built.

Whereas the DDG is a little too big for us, the frigate and the OPC and the LAW fall into the footprint of what we can handle down here and what were best at producing, he said.

The OPC is being competed now. The LAW program has six companies working with Naval Sea Systems Command on initial design concepts, with the Navy and Marine Corps hoping to compete the program next year and buy the first vessel in late FY 2022, USNI News has previously reported.

Light Amphibious Warship concept.

For Austal, it would be important for the yard to win one of those programs to avoid any disruptions to the workforce. The yard currently builds EPFs and Littoral Combat Ships for the Navy the Navy has ended LCS acquisition and moved on to the frigate in Fiscal Year 2020, but Austal still has four LCSs in various phases of construction and two final ships on contract before the production line ends.

On the EPF side, the yard was supposed to get funding for EPF-15 in the FY 2020 budget, but that ship was taken out of the budget. It was included in FY 2021, so thats helped stabilize us. Were looking forward the 30-year plan included six EPFs, two in FY 22, so were expecting to see that in the budget. So the award of those two EPFs would really help stabilize the workforce and production of the aluminum ships and serve as a bridge as we complete the steel capital investment and compete for those programs. So, were going to have a little bit of a valley here that were trying to stabilize, and then well start growing with the award of some steel ships.

The timeline of being done next April and the whole schedules built around that is focused on the fact that the Coast Guards offshore patrol program is in competition now. We are bidding on that, and I think this investment were making is intended to show the Coast Guard that were serious. Its over $100 million in investment being made to be a steel shipbuilder, premiere steel shipbuilder, so thats the Coast Guard. And same with the Navy, that light amphibius warship program is moving along itll come in behind timeline-wise, its a little after the OPC so well be ready.

On the aluminum ship side, the company is eyeing several opportunities to leverage the EPF program going forward including using it as the entry point to building medical-focused ships and autonomous ships.

The EPF program started out as a 10-ship program and has continued to grow as the fleet finds more and more uses for it moving people and logistics around locally, in line with its original intra-theater lift mission, as well as serving as an LCS tender in U.S. 4th Fleet and a command ship in U.S. 7th Fleet.

Beginning with EPF-14, Austal is moving to a Flight II EPF design with an enhanced medical capability that includes a medical ward with resuscitative care capability and a limited Intensive Care Unit (ICU) capability. This design change is not meant to dictate what role the ship would play or take away from other missions it wouldnt have to just work as an ambulance ship; it would still have the same ability to be an LCS tender, for example but it could be leveraged by fleet commanders if there were casualties after combat or a natural disaster.

An artists conception of Eastern Shipbuildings Offshore Patrol Cutter design.

Still, the focus on medical services and the Navys need for distributed medical capability around the globe has led Austal to pitch a new hospital ship design to the service. It would be a catamaran designed from the keel up to have all the capability of the aging USNS Mercy (T-AH-19) and USNS Comfort (T-AH-20), with somewhat less capacity but it would be easier to operate and maintain and could sail much faster, Ryder said. As the Navy looks at a more distributed footprint across the globe in the future, with smaller groups of sailors and Marines scattered among islands or in small ship formations, Austal is hoping to continue its talks with the Navy about what this hospital ship design could bring to the force.

Whats certain to be included in the future fleet is unmanned surface vessels. Ryder said the EPF was built with significant hull, mechanical and electrical (HM&E) autonomy to allow for a smaller crew and would therefore be a good starting point for a Large USV design. He said it could accommodate any of the missions the Navy has kicked around for LUSV, including unmanned logistics delivery or even offensive strike if the design was modified to include vertical launching system cells.

Congress added funding in FY 2021 to turn an EPF already in the production line into an LUSV prototype for fleet testing. Ryder said Austal is working with the Navy now to accomplish that and get the vessel to the fleet for experimentation with a craft that would be much larger than the Sea Hunter Medium USV that the fleet has the most familiarity with.

Though Ryder said EPF makes for a great testbed for LUSV experimentation, our focus is designing the ships from the keel up to be unmanned or optionally manned, however the Navy defines its requirements, and optimizing what we know best, which is the hull, the HM&E portion of that, the HM&E controls, and plugging that into the the autonomy mission software, navigation software provided by others.

Related

See more here:

Austal USA Expanding to Make Steel Ships; Yard Looks to Bid on Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Cutter, Navy Light Amphib Programs - USNI News - USNI News

Energy giant Santos is pushing ahead with development for a major new gas fieldoff the coast of Darwin, in what it says is the biggest investment in Australia's oil and gas industry in almost a decade.

The company and its joint venturepartners will pour $4.7 billion into the Barossa gas field project, with promises of hundreds of jobs and an economic boost for the Northern Territory in particular.

Environmental groups say the project is likely to significantly increase Australias greenhouse gas emissions and threaten pristine waterways off the Top End.

But the Commonwealth and Northern Territory governments say the project is a boost for the so-called gas-led recovery and a welcome sign of confidence coming back after last year's dive in oil and gas prices.

The project will draw gas from an offshore field lying 300 kilometres north of Darwin, in Commonwealth waters.

As well as a new floatingproduction facility and new underwater production wells, the project will require a new pipeline connection between the Barossa field and the Darwin LNG processing plant on shore.

Supplied: Santos Limited

There the gas will be liquefied and storedbefore it is exported overseas.

Santos managing director and chief executive Kevin Gallagher said the plant would havethe capacity to produce about 3.7 million tonnes of LNGa year.

He said investment in the project would actually be close to $7 billion with $2.5 billion in local wages and contracts over its predicted 20-year life cycle.

"This is the largest investment in the oil and gas sector in Australia for almost 10 years," Mr Gallagher said.

ABC News: Felicity James

The investment was not a sure thing this time last year Santos put its final investmentdecision on hold as the pandemic fallout crashed through economies around the globe.

Santos said its interest in the Barossa project would soon drop to 50 per cent after sales to South Korea's SK E&S and Japanese company Jera.

Northern Australia Minister Keith Pitt said the investment was a sign "absolutely [of] confidence in the Australian resources industry".

Companies that are investing over $5 billion are obviously confident there's a market, he said.

NT Deputy Chief Minister Nicole Manison said the project, with $800 million set aside for Darwin LNG plant upgrades, would mean jobs, jobs and more jobs for Territorians.

ABC News:Felicity James

Santos said it expected600 jobs would be created during the initial construction phase, which Mr Gallagher said would start ramping up in the second half of this year.

He said the company hadno local jobs targetbut a "majority" would be Darwin-based,in addition to a "specialist" team offly-in, fly-out workers.

The company said 350 longer-term jobs would be based in Darwin when the production phase begins around 2025.

Supplied: NOPSEMA

Environmental groups say there are questions about how emissions from gas projects like Barossa can be balanced with federal and Northern Territory climate targets.

The development was described as a "carbon bomb" by the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility.

Santos has estimated emissionswould total about 3.4 million tonnes per year,under normal operating conditions.

Australia's latest figures put total national emissions atabout 529 million tonnes for the year to March 2020.

A spokesman for Santos said carbon offsets would be required if the emissions exceeded baselines set by the Clean Energy Regulator.

ConocoPhillips

Mr Pitt said the federal government would ensure Australia's international commitments were met.

"The Commonwealth is committed to meeting its agreements in Paris, they are an international agreement which we have signed," Mr Pitt said.

Gas is being promoted as a 'clean' alternative to coal. Critics say it's nowhere near clean enough.

"Technology is thekey, we will manage our commitments to emissions reduction targets through technology."

Santos and the NT government have not confirmed which jurisdiction is likely to have responsibility for offsetting the emissions.

The project's proximity to the Tiwi Islands and theOceanic Shoals Marine Park is a concern to a coalition of groups including the Environment Centre NT and theAustralia Institute.

ECNTmarine scientist JasonFowler said the project was about 100 kilometres north of the Tiwi Islands and the pipeline would pass by as close as sixkilometres.

"This project will have devastating impacts on biodiversity in the region, including on critical habitat for the threatened Flatback and Olive Ridley turtles," hesaid.

The federal oil and gas industry regulator, the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA), accepted the Barossa project proposal in 2018.

The gas is intended for the international export market.

Mr Pitt said the Commonwealth was still considering submissions to a discussion paper ona domestic gas reservation policy.

ABC News: Felicity James

"Clearly you need the export market to ensure that the capital will flow to these projects Australia's domestic market is not big enough to warrant all of the current projects we have online," Mr Pitt said.

"It is a balance between what we need for exports and what we need for domestic use."

Mr Pitt said WesternAustralia already had a gas reservation policy and Tasmania had a "partial one" and it was"up to the Northern Territory government" what position it would take.

Visit link:

Santos and partners investing $4.7 billion to develop Barossa offshore gas field near Darwin - ABC News

The Block SK405B is located in the shallow waters of Balingian Province. Credit: PTT Exploration and Production Plc.

Thailands PTT Exploration & Production (PTTEP) and its partners have made new oil and gas discovery in the Sirung-1 wildcat exploration well offshore Malaysia.

The exploration well is situated in Block SK405B production sharing contract (PSC), located in the shallow waters of Balingian Province, approximately 237km off the coast of Miri, Sarawak.

Drilled to a total depth of 2,538m, the Sirung-1 exploration well encountered significant oil and gas column, exceeding 100m within the Oligocene to Middle Miocene sandstone reservoirs.

The partners plan for an appraisal well in near future to assess the upside resources.

PTTEP CEO Phongsthorn Thavisin said: The Sirung-1 exploration well marks PTTEPs third discovery offshore Malaysia following SK410Bs Lang Lebah and SK417s Dokong. PTTEP also plans to explore nearby prospects in this PSC next year.

The achievements have strengthened our investment base as we continue to expand our exploration horizon in Malaysia.

PTTEP Sarawak Oil operates the Block SK405B with 59.5% interest while MOECO Oil (Sarawak) and Petronas Carigali hold 25.5% and 15% stake respectively.

Petronas exploration, upstream vice president Emeliana Rice-Oxley said: The Sirung-1 discovery further proves the presence of oil, especially in the under-explored deeper play within the Balingian Province.

This came after similar success in an infill well at D18 Field. We are well-positioned to pursue a similar play in the other two neighbouring blocks in the same province, namely Blocks SK411 and SK306.

In February, PTTEP reported its largest-ever oil discovery in the Sarawak SK 410B Project following the drilling of the Lang Lebah-2 appraisal well.

Valves, Piping Systems and Connectors for the Offshore, LDPE/EVA and UREA Industry

Valves, Piping Systems and Connectors for the Offshore, LDPE/EVA and UREA Industry

28 Aug 2020

Offshore Communication Networks

28 Aug 2020

Continued here:

PTTEP and partners make oil and gas discovery offshore Malaysia - Offshore Technology

Some issues are so volatile that they reach the decision stage via a ballot box only after what seems an inordinate period. That the centenary of the foundation of Northern Ireland is about to be marked as discussions on a border poll gather pace is an example. Botched proposals around water charges seem another. Had the Constitution been amended to secure water services in public ownership then water services might not be so under-resourced today.

These are big issues but pale compared to climate action demands. A Wind Energy Ireland report to be published today suggests, thankfully, that we can enjoy a net-zero energy system by 2050. Achieving this will be difficult so public buy-in is essential. One of the ways that might be secured is by enacting legislation to ensure that wind farms must, in the first instance, be designed to operate offshore. This option is increasingly feasible and attractive as it does not impinge on remote communities.

Continued here:

Irish Examiner View: Effective offshore wind farm legislation would help people accept roll-out - Irish Examiner

Petronas announces new oil and gas discovery at offshore block off Miri

KUALA LUMPUR (March 30):Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) today announced a new oil and gas discovery in the Sirung-1 wildcat exploration well under the Block SK405B production sharing contract (PSC), located in the shallow waters of the Balingian province, about 237 kilometres off the coast of Miri, Sarawak.

The state-owned oil and gas firm said in a statement that the Sirung-1 exploration well was successfully drilled to a total depth of 2,538 metres in February 2021.

The discovery of the significant oil and gas column exceeding 100 metres within the Oligocene to Middle Miocene sandstone reservoirs further validates the potential of the Balingian province, with remaining prospects yet to be explored, it said.

Petronas said that PTTEP Sarawak Oil Ltdas the operator holds a 59.5% stake. MOECO Oil (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd holds 25.5%, while Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Petronas, holds the remaining 15% participating interest in Block SK405B.

The PSC was signed in November 2017 as a result of the Malaysia Bid Round (MBR) 2015.

Petronas vice-president of exploration and upstream Emeliana Rice-Oxley said the Sirung-1 discovery further proves the presence of oil, especially in the under-explored deeper play within the Balingian province.

This came after similar success in an infill well at the D18 Field. We are well positioned to pursue a similar play in the other two neighbouring blocks in the same province, namely Blocks SK411 and SK306. As such, developing this block and other surrounding areas remains an integral part of Petronas and our partners long-term growth plans.

We are very encouraged by the continued success with our partners in the consecutive discoveries this year in Malaysia and remain optimistic about our exploration activities in 2021, she said.

For the MBR2021, Petronas said, it is offering 13 new opportunities in the prolific basins of Malaysia accompanied by enhanced fiscal and non-fiscal terms. The initiative is part of Petronas continuous efforts to grow with its partners in Malaysia.

Go here to read the rest:

Petronas announces new oil and gas discovery in offshore Miri - The Edge Markets MY