Daily Archives: June 28, 2021

The logo of U.S. conglomerate General Electric is pictured at the site of the company's energy branch in Belfort, France, February 5, 2019. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler

June 28 (Reuters) - General Electric Co (GE.N) named Jan Kjaersgaard as the new chief executive of its offshore wind business, effective Monday.

He will succeed John Lavelle, who is retiring after 40 years with the company.

Kjaersgaard has previously served as the chief executive of Siemens Wind Power Americas, and was heading the cement business at FLSmidth & Co A/S (FLS.CO) before joining GE. (https://invent.ge/364TbWd)

Lavelle plans to stay on board to assist with the transition of responsibilities over the next several months.

Under Lavelle, GE installed the first ever offshore wind farm in the United States and expanded the presence of the business in Europe, China and Japan, the company said in a statement.

Reporting by Shreyasee Raj in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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GE names Jan Kjaersgaard as chief of offshore wind business - Reuters

LONGMONT, Colo., June 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- 3D at Depth Inc., the world's expert in commercial Subsea LiDAR (SL) laser technology, and leading provider of fully integrated underwater survey services along with SEA.O.G Offshore, who operate out of New Bedford, Seattle, and Houston, today announces the collaboration agreement focusing on all marine energy markets with a goal of reducing carbon emissions for subsea survey operations, offering integrity in a new way.

3D at Depth and SEA.O.G Offshore announce a collaboration for reducing carbon emissions in subsea survey operations.

The partnership brings together a fully integrated approach to field integrity and logistical operations for maintenance and asset health monitoring. The initial focus will be the increasing market for Offshore Wind and Oil and Gas. The operational know-how to execute disruptive technology successfully has been demonstrated by both companies independently over the last eight years bringing cost reduction and high-value services with integrity data to offshore energy companies internationally.

Neil Manning, Chief Operating Officer, 3D at Depth, stated "3D at Depth from its conception is a disruptive technology business which focuses on leveraging its in-house product line with integrated project execution and efficiencies. We believe this starts with the sensing technology followed by supervised autonomous in-water vehicles providing fully integrated platforms." Manning continues, "This approach is baked into both companies DNA making an obvious alignment with SEA O.G Offshore and its disruptive technology applications. I'm excited to see what this partnership can do and look forward to announcements set to release over the coming months. A prime example of thinking out of the box and a disruptive approach is the SEA O.G Offshore adaptable barge concept and our integrated Sabertooth vehicle platform, which shows how mobile we are, and the deployment solutions offered by Sea O.G Offshore make this partnership exciting across all marine market verticals."

Mike Arnold, Director, SEA O.G Offshore stated, "We are extremely excited to be collaborating with 3D at Depth and focusing on niche markets with smart, professional, cost-effective solutions; always with a primary focus on health, safety, and the environment. Our novel solutions, soon to be released, will be aimed at reducing carbon emissions dramatically for day-to-day subsea operations. Moving away from less effective traditional methodologies and taking a more focused, left-field approach, will reduce carbon emissions, reduce task timings, and will ultimately be more cost-effective. From our regions, we can actively support the offshore renewables and legacy Oil and Gas Markets."

The Range of Services includes: Rig and Platform Site Surveys; Geohazard Surveys; Wind Farm Site Surveys; Pre-Engineering Surveys; Clearance Surveys including UXO; Ice Gouge Surveys; Multibeam Echosounder Surveys in shallow and deep water; Pre-and Post-Lay Pipeline Route Surveys; Deepwater Site Developments; LNG and FPSO Offloading Facilities; Intercoastal Waterway Air Gap Surveys; Intercoastal Waterway Feedering; SMART ADAPT Barge Technology; Marine and Offshore Transportation Support; Heavy Load Marshalling and Loadout; Subsea Technical Solutions; Project Management and Consultancy.

About 3D at Depth:

3D at Depth, Inc. is the world's leading expert incommercial Subsea LiDAR laser technology. Our advancedSubsea LiDAR laser (SL) systems and subsea survey services help customers transform the value of underwater 3D data. From data collection and processing, through visualization and analysis, 3D at Depth delivers precise, accurate, repeatable, millimetric 3D point clouds to measure, map, and evaluate underwater assets and environments. The Company's locations in Australia, Europe, and the United States support customer survey operations around the world. For more information and a broader listing of services visit us at http://www.3datdepth.comandLinkedIn, or follow us on Twitter @3DatDepth.

About SEA O. G. Offshore:

SEA.O.G Offshoreis a field-tested integrated service provider to the offshore energy industry. With a dedicated team of more than 50 professionals, they have extensive industry experience in Wind Turbine Generator transport, trusted by the biggest names in wind. Nearly 5% of the entire installed capacity for 2020 were large rotor diameter turbines transported under their supervision. The team has supported technical marine operations of over 35,000 lifts for wind OEMs in more than 35 North American ports. Services for the offshore industry include subsea support, turnkey receiving, marshalling, and offshore delivery of WTGs and Foundation. Through the novel approach to offshore feedering they can offer more uptime than any other operator while improving safety, cost, and performance efficiencies through the application of advanced technology, marshalling methods, and a robust newbuild strategy.

We aim to advance the offshore energy industry with our technical expertise by providing environmentally conscious, fully integrated project management solutions while prioritizing the health, safety, and development of our workforce. http://www.seaofgravity.com

Media at 3D at Depth

Media Contact:

3D at Depth:

Jenna Pearson

media@3datdepth.com

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SOURCE 3D at Depth, Inc.

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3D At Depth And Sea.O.G Offshore Announce A Collaboration Focused On Fully Integrated Sustainable Survey And Integrity Solutions To The Offshore...

WorldMarine Offshore (WMO) has entered into a joint venture agreement with U-MingMarine Transport Corporation (U-Ming) to jointly establish U-MING MARINEOFFSHORE COMPANY UMITED (UMO) to pursue activities within the offshorewind sector in Taiwan.

Matthias Ens has been appointed General Manager for UMO with experiencein the offshore wind industry in Europe. He will lead a local workforceand officially launch the turnkey offshore wind logistic business.

The CTVs of the joint venture have already secured charter contracts foroffshore wind farms. The UMO fleet consists of trimaran SWATH vessels thatare fitted with a patented hydraulic fender system "Soft Bow",that is designed to support activity in higher seas. In addition, UMO hasinvested in ship digitisation, and BareFLEET remote monitoring system.The system is used to send daily reports on crew, technicians and equipmentscheduling, fuel consumption, weather observations, safety checks and drillsto customers, as well as to ensure that shore-based managers are fullyaware of the vessels' operational status and safety.

For everything you need to know aboutthe strategies used to support the construction and O&M of offshorewind farms, current and future, including supply and demand for serviceand accommodation vessels, and helicopters, clickhere.

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WMO and UMO form new joint venture in Taiwan - 4C Offshore

TetraSpar

(Courtesy Stiesdal Offshore Technologies)

Offshore staff

LAUSANNE, Switzerland Shell and RWE have commissioned Akselos to apply its structural simulation software Integrato model the TetraSpar floating foundation demonstrator.

This is due to be installed in 200 m (656 ft) water depth, 10 km (6.2 mi) from the coast at the Marine Energy Test Centre,near Stavanger.

The Digital TetraSpar will interface with sensors on the structure and serve as a detailed structural model of the demonstrator.

Akselos claims that the speed and scale of its software allows the behavior of the entire structure to be analyzed in near real time.

This should provide insightsfor improvements in the design and operation of the concept, leading to lower cost, optimized maintenance, and inspection workflows.

Akselos previously supplied a structural digital twin for deployment on the WindFloat Atlantic project as part of a US Department of Energy grant.

Steven Zijp, project engineer Offshore Wind at Shell, said: The partnership between Akselos, TetraSpar, RWE and Shell enables us to further scale and manage floating offshore wind turbines, making them safer and more cost efficient, while allowing developers access to deeper and more challenging waters around the world.

The TetraSpar floating wind foundation was developed by Stiesdal Offshore Technologies, which is working on the demo project claimed to be the worlds first full-scale demonstration of an industrialized offshore foundation with TEPCO Renewable Power, Shell, and RWE.

The foundation is a tetrahedral structure assembled from tubular steel components.

A 3.6-MW wind turbine supplied by Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy will be mounted on the foundation at the quayside using a land-based crane.

From there, the assembled structure will be towed to the offshore test site, moored with three anchor lines and connected to the electrical grid.

06/28/2021

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Digital twin to model floating wind foundation demonstrator - Offshore Oil and Gas Magazine

When President Biden took office in January, a peculiar idea about oil and gas started to make the political rounds: that certain parts of the industry are more environmentally responsible and can actually reduce emissions, compared to other parts of the industry that are worse for the Earth.

If you want to reduce emissions, the offshore arena is better, Scott Angelle, who was the top environmental regulator of offshore energy under the Trump administration, told the trade publication Offshore in late January.

Questionable claims about the climate might be expected from a Trump administration official who rolled back oil and gas regulations, but the same argument has also seeped into Democratic politics.

Gulf of Mexico oil and gas production produces substantially fewer greenhouse gas emissions than oil and gas production in any other region of the world, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, testified to the Senate Energy Committee in May.

Documents show that these claims originated with a little-known lobbying group that advocates for offshore oil and experts told Vox that theyre dubious at best. By focusing on the emissions of oil and gas production, the industry is ignoring the much larger share of pollution that comes from the burning of fossil fuels. This is a clear attempt at greenwashing: Parts of the oil industry are arguing, perversely, that more fossil fuels can help solve the climate crisis.

Yet these tactics also suggest that fossil fuel companies foresee a fight for survival in a shrinking market for oil and gas and one emerging industry tactic is pointing fingers to claim that a particular source of oil and gas isnt as dirty as the next persons.

Theyre falling over themselves to claim their oil is cleaner than someone else, Lorne Stockman, a research analyst at Oil Change International, a nonprofit advocacy group, told Vox.

Whats worrying is that attempts to rebrand some oil and gas as sustainable has gained traction even among prominent Democrats, and could influence an administration that has pledged to slash emissions by half within the decade in the hope of preventing catastrophic climate change.

The offshore oil industry in the US Gulf of Mexico has reason to be particularly worried right now. Rigs and platforms along the outer continental shelf (OCS) were producing oil at a record rate right before the coronavirus pandemic began, but lockdowns caused a global crash in oil prices and a collapse in demand.

Bidens agenda could put the sector further at risk. Offshore drilling requires expensive investments that can take more than a decade to pay off, so it relies on continuity more than, say, the boom-and-bust business of fracking on land. And while President Trump put 517 million acres of drillable federal waters up for auction, the Biden administration has tried to pause lease sales while the Interior Department considers reforming the process. (These efforts are working their way through the courts, and most recently faced a roadblock when a federal Louisiana judge, appointed by Trump, sided with Republican attorneys general and essentially paused Bidens pause.)

Days after Biden issued a series of climate-related executive orders in late January, an oil lobbying group, the Louisiana Mid-Continental Oil and Gas Association (LMOGA), started circulating talking points in a memo titled Climate Values at Risk. It argued that if Gulf oil production declines, so would taxes and royalties that are used for nature conservation. It also said, Reducing production in the US Gulf of Mexico Probably Increases Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

These documents were obtained via public records request by Documented, a watchdog group that investigates corporate corruption. The group revealed that trade groups in Louisiana and New Mexico sprang into action against Bidens executive orders by writing talking points for Democratic politicians, HuffPost reported in April.

The US Gulf of Mexico produces oil with exceptionally low [greenhouse gas] intensity for several compounding reasons, explains one of the offshore oil lobbys key documents.

The first reason, the lobbying document said, is that Gulf oil has fewer conventional pollutants. Next are leaks of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that the trade group describes as under extremely tight control. Last is a regional pipeline system that brings the regions oil straight to neighboring Gulf Coast refineries, whereas other producing regions around the world rely on less-efficient trucks or tankers to bring crude oil to market.

A month later, in a presentation to Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, Louisianas Gov. Edwards adopted all of this language as if it were his own. Under the heading OCS Production is Cleaner, the trade groups claims were listed without attribution in a series of bullet points.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) has also pushed these same points, saying that Gulf drilling pollutes less than gas operations in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico. In an April interview with the industry podcast Capitol Crude, he cited an Obama administration factoid to argue that developing oil and gas in the outer continental shelf has the lowest emissions profile of any such field in the entire world.

Cassidy and the oil lobby are indeed referring to a 2016 Obama-era Department of Interior report. It compares the climate footprint of offshore drilling to the climate footprint of imported oil. It concludes that if the United States were to stop drilling in the Gulf overnight, climate pollution would increase slightly because foreign sources of oil would then fill the gap in demand.

But climate experts insist on a transition away from oil, not a 1:1 replacement. The same report also makes the case for transitioning away from oil altogether. It also said that emissions from offshore oil and gas could burn through an alarming 9 percent of the greenhouse gases that the US needed to allot itself to avert catastrophic climate change.

The oil industry has little actual evidence that drilling in the Gulf is any cleaner than alternatives. Though offshore oil is less studied than onshore oil, a number of studies have found higher-than-estimated pollutants, especially the potent greenhouse gas methane, leaking from these sites, both in US waters and other parts of the world. Erik Kort, a University of Michigan climate scientist whose research is supported in part by climate groups, said overall methane leakage is probably underestimated since there is no reliable data or monitoring for offshore regions.

The Government Accountability Office made a similar point in a recent report, finding serious problems with pollution detection and management in the Gulf of Mexico. It said the Department of the Interior does not generally conduct or require any subsea inspections of active pipelines, relying instead on less-reliable surface observations. And a Princeton study of eight platforms in the North Sea estimated more methane leaking from the sites than previous estimates. If that trend were to hold true for platforms across the UK, the researchers said it would add the rough emissions equivalent of 330,000 cars.

Korts most important point, though, is that its a mistake to focus solely on the emissions of oil and gas production. We cant ignore the climate impact of the actual burning of oil and gas. All fossil fuels do contribute, in the end, to greenhouse gases which warm the planet, he said.

Most oil and gas emissions around 90 percent come from combustion, not production, according to research by Richard Heede of the Climate Accountability Institute. So when lobbyists claim Gulf drilling is cleaner, theyre focused on a narrow sliver of oil and gas emissions the 10 percent or so that comes from extracting, refining, and delivering fuels.

The offshore industrys new tricks fit into the oil industrys long history of denying the science, impact, and solutions to climate change, Jesse Coleman, senior researcher at Documented, told Vox.

All the greenwashing and finger-pointing, Stockman said, hides whats absolutely clear from the climate science: that we need less oil and gas, not more.

Offshore oil groups arent the only ones taking a new interest in this style of greenwashing. Many oil and gas companies are taking a new interest in their climate impact as they make the case that theyre less bad than their competitors and that they could help displace dirtier fuels.

One of those companies is Pioneer Resources, the biggest company operating in the Permian Basin, which wrote in its 2020 sustainability report about responsibly extracted oil and gas. It was referring only to its methane releases at production sites.

Currently, emerging markets for responsibly extracted oil and gas are developing in the U.S. and Europe, the company report said. These markets may offer premium pricing for natural gas and oil with verifiable sustainability performance.

Other companies have sought to rebrand or tout their investments in carbon capture and storage. In January, the CEO of Occidental Petroleum Corporation, Vicki Hollub, described the company as a carbon management company, claiming its carbon-capture investments would provide the world with net-zero carbon oil. Denbury Inc. also claims to be an industry leader in reducing CO2 emissions with something called blue oil another name for carbon capture.

Then there is the liquified natural gas terminal under construction in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, which the energy company NextDecade has called the greenest LNG project in the world. Outside the US, Canadas oldest oil and gas trade group, which represents oil sands interests that carry a particularly bad reputation for their carbon intensity, has dropped the word oil from its branding.

Some degree of run-of-the-mill competition within the oil industry is to be expected. US producers have always wrapped themselves in the flag, and said its better to produce our own oil than get it from Middle East producers, said Oil Change Internationals Stockman. Whats less familiar is to see this on the climate front, at a time when the industry is facing unprecedented pressure from the courtroom to the boardroom. This is really starting to happen in the last year, Stockman said.

Louisianas Gov. Edwards has himself pointed out that his state is on the front lines of climate change. The Gulf of Mexico already faces coastal erosion, hurricanes, and polluted air. Thats what makes it so strange that hes repeating the oil industrys narratives.

The consumer is what increases or decreases demand, and the market will naturally fill whatever supply is needed, Edwards noted in his presentation to the Biden administrations Department of Energy. Thats certainly what the oil industry wants people to think that fossil fuel companies are just innocent bystanders who are trying to meet consumer needs but the science is clear. Demand and supply of new oil and gas need to shrink, and fast. What were seeing now is the fight for a piece of that shrinking market.

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Offshore oil and its Democratic allies are greenwashing Gulf drilling - Vox.com

The UK and Norway are to cooperate on electricity interconnection and infrastructure that combines cross-border transmission with offshore wind generation in the North Sea.

UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Kwasi Kwarteng (pictured) and the Norwegian Energy Minister Tina Bru revealed the plans in a joint statement today following their first in-person meeting in Oslo.

Todays commitment builds on what is already a transformative partnership between our two countries, making use of the extraordinary expertise we hold within the clean energy revolution to help fight climate change and create new business opportunities, they said.

This includes the development of carbon capture and storage underpinned by our bilateral memorandum of understanding signed in November 2018, the development of hydrogen technologies, and the opening up of our seas to unleash what is a ground-breaking new era of offshore wind power, the statement added.

It also noted that the two counties are celebrating the completion this month of the construction of the North Sea Link interconnector, with trading over the interconnector scheduled to start later this year.

Looking forward, we are committed to working together on further innovative opportunities to support our economies transition to clean, green energy as part of delivering our commitments under the Paris Agreement, the ministers said.

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UK, Norway to explore offshore wind links - reNEWS