Daily Archives: September 20, 2021

Highlights

Big expansion at Halden factory

UK content via local presence, partnerships

Commodity price pass-through to customers

Nexans is gearing up for 250% growth in the offshore wind cable market to 2030, company officials told S&P Global Platts Sept. 16.

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The French cable company has been involved in around half of Europe's 25-GW of offshore wind development to date, providing high voltage subsea export cabling services to Belgian, Danish, German, UK and now French projects.

It has just launched the CLV Nexans Aurora, a cable laying vessel with over 10,000 mt of load capacity charged with deploying near-term projects such as Seagreen offshore wind farm in Scotland, the Crete-Attica interconnector in Greece and the Empire offshore wind project in the US.

Now the company is investing to expand capacity at its Halden factory in Norway, and its Charleston factory in North Carolina in the US.

Those decisions, and a strategic shift to focus on electrification, were driven largely by the massive growth trend in offshore wind and large interconnectors worldwide, said Maxime Toulotte, Nexans head of technical marketing.

Charleston is to be upgraded so it can supply submarine HV cables to the US offshore wind market, while at Halden "we are investing to increase capacity for AC and DC cables for offshore, close to doubling capacity," Toulotte said.

There was no plan, however, to build a factory in the UK despite the offshore wind industry's 2019 deal with the government to source 60% of content from the UK by 2030, including increases in the capital expenditure phase.

"Over the last five years we have been very successful in the UK with Beatrice, East Anglia and Seagreen project awards, but the type of investment [in a cable factory] and the time it takes for qualification is very massive," Toulotte said.

"It is complicated to have several factories in the same market. Our approach has been to have a local presence in the UK, especially in Scotland where we have project managers, site managers, jointers all performing field tasks. That gives us a long-term relationship with sub-contractors, notably for civil works. Having this local presence is a success factor in securing and performing UK projects."

Around 10% of an offshore wind farm's economic value was in the transmission asset, Toulotte said.

Transmission was an essential but quite a small component in the overall capital cost compared to turbine, blade and foundation manufacturing.

"On a more structural basis, our main partner in lead, usually employed in submarine cables, is based and produces in the UK," said Christophe Allain, Nexans global portfolio director non-ferrous metals.

"It is a good asset for the UK because we employ lead in all our high voltage facilities in the world," Allain said. However, the main materials in terms of cable value, copper and aluminum, could not be sourced in the UK so getting to 60% content "required more analysis of how you manage that," he said.

Customers were beginning to ask Nexans to define UK content and, more generally, its emission reduction efforts, Toulotte said.

"It is a big job to map entire projects, but we are starting to do it and in future this will be a systematic process," he said.

NEXANS: SELECTED HV CABLE PROJECT WINS

Seagreen

Offshore wind

UK

Hornsea 1 and 2

Offshore wind

UK

Saint Brieux

Offshore wind

France

Empire Wind

Offshore wind

US

DolWin 6

Offshore wind

Germany

Horns Rev 2

Offshore wind

Denmark

Belwind

Offshore wind

Belgium

Mindanao Visayas

Interconnector

Philippines

Mallorca Menorca

Interconnector

Spain

NordLink

Interconnector

Norway, Germany

North Sea Link

Interconnector

Norway, UK

Monlta

Interconnector

Montenegro, Italy

Inner Oslo Fjord

Interconnector

Norway

Maritime Link

Interconnector

Canada

Stair of Belle Isle

Interconnector

Canada

Malta-Sicily

Interconnector

Italy

Mallorca-Ibiza

Interconnector

Spain

Skagerrak 4

Interconnector

Norway, Denmark

Nexans hedges all its copper, aluminum and lead on the LME and it sells cable with a floating commodity price, Christophe Allain said.

"That is the market practice in the cable industry. We associated ourselves to the LME more than a century ago in order to do this. Changes in the commodity cost are borne by the customer, and we do not speculate or take a position."

On the wider impacts of high commodity prices and potential supply bottlenecks, Allain took a pragmatic view. "We have to be careful about what we read in the news. Growth in renewables won't come all on day one, it's a long-term process."

The full impact of the requirement for more copper would come in 3-4 years' time but today "it depends on what you call copper scrap is plentiful, cathode is available," Allain said.

There were some bottlenecks in more transformed products, and clearly there would be more demand for copper and aluminum, "but we are vertically integrated, we have our own copper rod mills. That gives us good security of supply," he said.

Nexans used 460,000 mt of copper in 2020, down from 525,000 mt in 2019 and 495,000 mt in 2018.

See original here:

INTERVIEW: Nexans gears up for massive growth in offshore wind cable market - S&P Global

Five UK projects revolving around decarbonisation of the maritime sector by using offshore wind solutions have won GBP 3.3 million (around EUR 3.9 million) through the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition, funded by the UK Department for Transport and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK.

One of the Competitions flagship projects is a feasibility study into establishing a National Clean Maritime Demonstration Hub in ABPs Grimsby docks the worlds largest offshore wind operations and maintenance (O&M) port, according to the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, which is leading the project and is also either leading or is a consortium partner in the other four initiatives.

ORE will also be working alongside MJR Power & Automation to develop a world-first offshore vessel charging system taking power from an offshore wind farm and on the development of an offshore wind power barge that can provide vessel-to-vessel charging capability in a project led by Aluminium Marine Consultants (AMC).

The project developing offshore wind on-turbine electrical vessel charging system will design, build, and test an electric charge point situated on a wind turbine. This approach will access the infrastructure already in place (turbine platform, electrical cables) to provide renewable electricity to vessels. As an eCTV docks with the turbine a cable reel will lower down an electrical charge connection which will plug in to the vessel and charge a battery on-board.

AMCs project project will complete a detaileld design and operational simulation of a mothership charging vessel, hosting a number of electric CTVs. The mothership will take the concept of in-field charging and provide a flexible solution capable of removing diesel emissions from offshore wind Operations and Maintenance.

Furthermore, Concept Systems Ltd (CSL) has been awarded funding to investigate data-led emissions management and Artemis Technologies will be supported in further developing its eFoiler technology.

ORE Catapult says the five projects will also convene industry, the supply chain, and the government to address the policy, commercial, regulatory, and technical barriers to achieving maritime decarbonisation.

The decarbonisation of the UKs maritime fleet is essential if we are to achieve Net Zero by 2050 and transitioning to a future of zero-emissions shipping with clean vessels and alternative fuels is vital, ORE Catapult stated in a press release from 15 September. As both a potential producer and user of clean fuels, the UKs offshore wind industry is in a unique position to act as a springboard for that broader maritime decarbonisation.

The five offshore wind-driven projects are part of a total of 55 projects that have together secured GBP 23 million (around EUR 27 million) in funding through the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition.

Originally posted here:

Five UK Projects Looking to Decarbonise Maritime Sector with Offshore Wind - Offshore WIND

The BCT was announced in January this year, and based on the handful of renders and close-up shots released at the time, it was the kind of rig that can be used as a proper home no matter where your sense of adventure might take you. The first unit further enforces that idea, as its meant as an offshore racing yacht [built] on a trophy truck, with all-terrain and all-season capabilities, and a wide range of options for all budgets and vacation ideas.

The TruckHouse BCT is, in short, just that: a truck house, a reliable rig that takes you off the beaten path but will never let you rough it up. Its a landyacht of sorts, and its priced like one, too. But more on that later.

Inspired by the 1987 Toyota Sunrader 4x4 camper, the BCT sits on top of the Toyota Tacoma truck. You get to choose between three stages when it comes to the base, starting with the TRD Sport Access Cab and ending with the TRD Pro. The idea with the BCT is that it should offer a little something for everyone: whether youre an occasional, summer off-roader, or you want a rig to use all around the year for longer stretches, you can mix and match among the many options and get the perfect overlander.

The house is the result of over 1,000 hours of research and design, and its layout aims for efficiency, comfort and an added touch of coziness. Theres a queen-size bed over the cab, with the wet bathroom close by and plenty of storage space on the opposite end.

The kitchen occupies both sides, and is fitted to ensure you get plenty of nutrition on your many adventures. Were talking here about a proper kitchen, with a two-burner stove, microwave and an oven, fridge / freezer combo, stainless sink with filtered water, and countertop to serve as a working surface. At the rear of the mini-home is the dinette, which includes a U-shaped couch and a table for four (the swivel-mounted TV is optional). The table can be lowered and the couch becomes a secondary berth, big enough to sleep two adults of a more slender constitution.

Standing height is 6.3 feet (1.9 meters) and the seven safari-style large windows allow in plenty of light, to make the space feel even bigger. To avoid the cramped feeling that can come with over-the-cabin berths, the BCT comes with a skylight. Access from the cabin of the truck to the home is possible.

And then, theres the question of versatility. As noted above, customers can spec their rig according to their needs and budget, so TruckHouse offers more than just the three stages for the base truck. In terms of performance, for example, you can opt for a naturally aspirated engine or a supercharger. You also get three stages for exterior color, another three for off-road capabilities, three for entertainment, and three for the rear seats.

Off-grid capabilities are two-fold: you can get the 240-Ah lithium battery pack with a 400-W solar array on the roof (low-profile), or the 540-Ah battery pack with a 600-W solar panel system. Two more stages are offered under the severe weather option, with the second stage offering all-season capabilities with heated floors, AC, upgraded insulation, and heated water.

Read more here:

The TruckHouse BCT Overlander Is Here: An Offshore Racing Yacht Built on a Trophy Truck - autoevolution

Estimates reflect insured wind, storm surge, and inland flooding impacts in the U.S., including losses to the National Flood Insurance Program and the private flood market.

Newark, CA September 17, 2021 RMS, the worlds leading catastrophe risk solutions company, estimates total onshore and offshore U.S. insured losses from Hurricane Ida to be between US$31 and US$44 billion. The estimate builds upon the earlier industry loss estimate of US$25-$35 billion for the Gulf of Mexico region, to include inland flooding impacts in the Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast U.S. regions. RMS estimates US$6$9 billion in insured losses from precipitation-induced flooding in the Atlantic states in this event.

The majority of the insured flood losses in the Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast U.S. between US$4.5 and US$7.0 billion, will be to the private market, with an additional US$1.5$2.0 billion to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

Total U.S. onshore and offshore insured loss estimates for Hurricane Ida (US$ billions):

The overall industry loss estimate for this event includes wind and storm surge losses in the Gulf of Mexico based on analysis of ensemble footprints in Version 21 of the RMS North Atlantic Hurricane Models. RMS ensemble footprints are reconstructions of Idas hazard that capture the uncertainties surrounding observed winds and storm surge. The industry estimate also includes impacts from precipitation-induced inland flooding in the Gulf Coast states (Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi), Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast regions, using footprints from the RMS U.S. Inland Flood HD Model.

Ida will be remembered as a wind and storm surge event in the Gulf of Mexico, and a flood event in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast U.S. The storms remnants brought historic amounts of rainfall over just a few hours to some of the most exposure-dense areas in that part of the country. Many locations from Philadelphia to New York City experienced six-hourly rainfall totals in excess of 100-year return period levels, which is beyond building design standards in that region, causing widespread fluvial and pluvial flooding. The fact that this region also experienced heavy rainfall from Tropical Storm Henri a few weeks prior created saturated antecedent conditions that exacerbated the extent and severity of flooding in Ida, said Jeff Waters, Senior Product Manager, RMS North Atlantic Hurricane Models.

Losses for the Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast regions reflect property damage and business interruption to residential, commercial, industrial, and automobile lines of business, as well as sources of post-event loss amplification and leakage of flood losses onto windstorm policies.

RMS expects insured losses associated with precipitation-induced inland flooding to be material in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, even though a sizable flood protection gap remains. RMS estimates total economic losses from flooding in this region to be over US$15 billion, meaning that the majority of flood damages for this event will be uninsured. Many properties in New York and New Jersey had inundated basements in areas outside the designated FEMA special flood hazard areas (SFHAs), which drive the requirement for homeowners to obtain a flood insurance policy. While such losses will unlikely be covered unless they have a flood insurance policy, the pressure to expedite claims processing in this region is likely to cause coverage leakage as frequently seen with storm surge. We expect a portion of the uncovered flood-related losses in Ida to be paid out on wind policies, especially for residential lines without NFIP coverage, said Firas Saleh, Director, RMS U.S. Inland Flood HD Model.

Total insured losses from Ida reflect property damage and business interruption to residential, commercial, automobile, industrial, infrastructure, marine cargo and specie, watercraft, and other specialty lines of business, along with post-event loss amplification (PLA) and non-modeled sources of loss.

We expect a sizable portion of the overall insured losses from Ida to be associated with post-event loss amplification. A combination of COVID-19 related impacts, including rising construction costs, labor shortages, and fewer loss inspections could contribute to economic demand surge as repairs are undertaken in the coming months. That, along with prolonged power outages will only lengthen recovery and repair times, all of which may lead to increased overall claim costs in this event, said Rajkiran Vojjala, Vice President, Model Development, RMS.

The total U.S. insured loss estimate includes US$3.8US$6 billion losses to the NFIP, with US$1.5US$2 billion expected to come from the Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast states. NFIP losses were derived using RMS view of NFIP exposure based on 2019 policy-in-force data published by FEMA, the Version 21 North Atlantic Hurricane Models, and the U.S. Inland Flood HD Model. While flood policy take-up is significant in coastal areas in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, some of the areas worst affected by floods during Ida have minimal (<10%) NFIP participation.

RMS expects the majority of onshore insured losses from Ida to be driven by wind, followed by inland flooding, and then storm surge. Additionally, insured wind losses will be driven by residential lines, and insured water losses will be dominated by commercial and industrial lines. Insured losses to infrastructure, watercraft, and marine cargo and specie lines in Ida will be less than US$1 billion.

Based on the August 2021 vintage of the RMS Offshore Platform Industry Exposure Database, and modeled ensemble footprints, RMS estimates insured losses to offshore platforms, rigs, and pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico from wind and wave damages to be between US$0.7US$1.5 billion.

Outside of the U.S., Ida impacted parts of the Caribbean, including Cuba, Jamaica, and the Cayman Islands, with strong winds, heavy rain, and flash flooding. RMS estimates less than US$100 million in insured losses from the event in the Caribbean.

Ida made landfall near Port Fourchon, Louisiana on Sunday, August 29 as a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. At landfall, Ida produced sustained winds of 150 miles per hour (241 km/h), according to the National Hurricane Center. As Ida moved northward toward the Tennessee River Valley, it weakened and eventually transitioned to a post-tropical cyclone before impacting the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions with torrential rain and flash flooding.

Hurricane Ida was the ninth named storm of the 2021 North Atlantic hurricane season, the fourth hurricane, and the fifth named storm to make landfall in the U.S. this season. Ida was also the fourth hurricane to make landfall in Louisiana since 2020, following Hurricanes Laura, Delta, and Zeta. Over two months remain in the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, which officially ends on November 30.

RMS industry loss estimates for landfalling U.S. hurricanes are comprehensive, reflecting modeled and non-modeled impacts from all major drivers of damage, including wind, storm surge, and inland flooding.

END

The technology and data used in providing this Information is based on the scientific data, mathematical and empirical models, and encoded experience of scientists and specialists. As with any model of physical systems, particularly those with low frequencies of occurrence and potentially high severity outcomes, the actual losses from catastrophic events may differ from the results of simulation analyses.

RMS SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL RESPONSIBILITIES, OBLIGATIONS AND LIABILITY WITH RESPECT TO ANY DECISIONS OR ADVICE MADE OR GIVEN AS A RESULT OF THE INFORMATION OR USE THEREOF, INCLUDING ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WARRANTIES OF NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL RMS (OR ITS PARENT, SUBSIDIARY, OR OTHER AFFILIATED COMPANIES) BE LIABLE FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES WITH RESPECT TO ANY DECISIONS OR ADVICE MADE OR GIVEN AS A RESULT OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS INFORMATION OR USE THEREOF.

About RMS

Risk Management Solutions, Inc. (RMS) helps insurers, financial markets, corporations, and public agencies evaluate and manage global risk from natural and man-made catastrophes, including hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, climate change, cyber, and pandemics.

RMS helped pioneer the catastrophe risk industry, and continues to lead in innovation by marrying data and advanced model science with leading-edge SaaS technology. Leaders across multiple industries can address the risks of tomorrow with RMS Risk Intelligence (RI), our open, unified cloud platform for global risk, enabling them to tap into RMS HD models, rich data layers, intuitive applications, and APIs.

Further supporting the industrys transition to modern risk management, RMS spearheaded the Risk Data Open Standard (RDOS), a new modern open standard data schema designed to be an extensible, flexible, and future-proof asset within modeling/analysis systems.

RMS is a trusted solutions partner enabling effective risk management for better business decision making across risk identification and selection, mitigation, underwriting, and portfolio management.

Visit RMS.com to learn more and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

For More Information Contact:

Devonne Cusi (U.S.)+1 551 226 1604PRTeam@rms.com

Matthew Longbottom (U.K.)+44 7584 333485PRTeam@rms.com

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters USA Profit Loss Hurricane

View original post here:

RMS Estimates US$31 $44 Billion in Total U.S. Onshore and Offshore Insured Losses from Hurricane Ida - Insurance Journal

It was recently announced that the Aberdeen-based company Wood and National Energy Resources Australia (NERA) are collaborating in order to deliver an artificial intelligence (AI) software solution for offshore asset inspections.

Indeed, the Augmented Machine Vision Solution (AMVS) has been developed for 12 months and should create savingsof $2 billion per year. The project aims to create a safe and fast inspection approach that can offer operators more accurate and up-to-date information so as to help maximize the output of assets.

By doing so, inspections should be less susceptible to human error and inconsistencies, thus they will be more accurate. The new AI software should also help flag up any anomalies as well as eliminate the need for technicians to travel to hazardous, offshore sites. It would eventually read to better-connected operations that can be realized through faster turnaround times and reduced costs for crew and vessels.

It was stated that NERA is very pleased to be part of the project and see potential opportunities emerging for this solution to be deployed into various fields.

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Wood and NERA collaboration to deliver new AI software solution for offshore inspections Software Testing News - Software Testing News

HOUSTON (ICIS)--Just over 23% of the US Gulfs oil production and 34% of natural gas output remained shut in as of Friday, the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said.

The following table shows the number of platforms and rigs evacuated, including the total of oil and natural gas that has been shut in.

Oil and gas supply in the US Gulf has continued to slowly recover after Hurricane Ida hit Louisiana more than two weeks ago.

The percentage of oil and gas production that is still shut in has decreased slightly from the previous day.

Offshore oil wells account for 17% of the nation's crude production, according to theEnergy Information Administration (EIA).

The EIA said federal Gulf of Mexico production is about 3% of total US dry natural gas production.

Shell continues to assess the damage to its West Delta-143 facility. These facilities serve as the transfer station for all production from Shell-operated assets in the Mars corridor in the Gulf of Mexico to onshore crude and natural gas terminals.

Its Appomattox, Enchilada/Salsa and Auger assets continue to ramp up production. Its Mars, Ursa and Olympus assets remain shut in.

In contrast, pipeline companies impacted by Hurricane Nicholas have been able to restore service after the storm passed through Texas earlier this week.

Ports in the Texas Gulf Coast and southwestern Louisiana regionhave reopened.

The damage from both storms could likely see output andrefinery throughputimpacted for several more sessions.

On Tuesday, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) revised down their Q3 2021 oil demand figure by 200,000 bbl/day.

See the original post:

Just over 23% of US Gulf oil, 34% of offshore natgas output remains shut in - ICIS

A floating offshore wind farm could be used to supply power to Equinors 300 million barrel Rosebank field.

Sonja Chirico Indrebo, head of floating offshore wind at the Norwegian energy giant, said while theres nothing concrete, the idea is on the drawing board.

And the company is looking into what the Hywind Tampen project means for the North Sea field.

She added that the story of Equinor is merging competencies and technologies.

Construction of Hywind Tampen got underway last year and the project is progressing really well, Ms Indrebo said.

Located about 85 miles from the Norwegian coast, it will be the worlds first floating wind farm to power offshore oil and gas assets, decarbonising operations.

The 11-turbine scheme, which will supply green energy to the Snorre and Gullfaks installations, is due to start up next year.

It will give Equinor around a third of global floating offshore wind capacity, adding to its Hywind Scotland development off Peterhead.

On whether a similar option could be used to cut emissions from Rosebank, Ms Indrebo said: We speak closely to the Aberdeen office because thats where we have a large portfolio.

The story of Equinor is how to merge these competencies so Rosebank is definitely looking into what Hywind Tampen means for them and what it could potentially look like.

Theres nothing concrete but its definitely on the drawing board were always trying to find optimised solutions.

Discovered in 2004 about 80 miles west of Shetland, Rosebank is among the UK North Seas largest remaining oilfields.

Equinor snapped up its 40%-operated stake in the field from Chevron in late 2018.

Prior to that, it had owned a 30% non-operated interest in Rosebank, but sold it to Austrian firm OMV in 2013.

A final investment decision on the field is expected to be taken in May next year.

However, the future of North Sea production has been thrown into sharp focus in recent weeks as the debate about Siccar Point Energys planned Cambo field rages on.

Some are calling on the UK Government to scrap the project, also west of Shetland, due to claims it is at odds with net zero.

Industry chiefs have argued that scrapping Cambo would simply lead to an increase in hydrocarbon imports, potentially from more carbon intensive regions.

Accordingly there is an increasing drive amongst North Sea companies to reduce their operational emissions.

Ms Indrebo said: The future for oil and gas will depend on the frameworks in place in different countries.

In Norway, we have a very high CO2 tax and that pushes a lot of decarbonisation. Scotland has a very ambitious net zero goal so I am sure that will be a driver here.

It will depend on where you are in the world but we do believe floating is a good solution to provide electricity for oil and gas needs.

Original post:

Floating offshore wind could be used to power Equinor's Rosebank project - Energy Voice