Category Archives: Offshore

Gov. Janet Mills and two top advisers are participating in a trip to Scotland in early March that is designed to showcase the countrys expertise in developing and hosting offshore wind energy projects, including one that once was planned for Maine.

The trip is aimed at sharing knowledge and contacts in a region that boasts the greatest amount of installed offshore wind capacity in the world, the first commercial-scale floating wind turbines and an even larger floating wind project under construction.

Mills, along with Governors Energy Office Director Dan Burgess and Office of Policy Innovation and the Future Director Hannah Pingree, will travel with officials from North Carolina, Virginia and other states on the United Kingdom-sponsored tour, based largely in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh and around the port city of Aberdeen.

In a recent statement to the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, Mills said she wanted to see the industry firsthand and learn about how the U.K. is handling issues including port facilities and supply chain support, stakeholder engagement and regulatory policies. Those lessons will be useful as offshore wind interest in the United States expands into the Gulf of Maine.

But perhaps most importantly, I want to convey to them that our state is deeply interested in embracing offshore wind as part of our effort to create jobs, diversify and strengthen our economy, create a sustainable source of clean energy, and fight climate change, she said.

Since Mills took office last year, she has made clear her intentions to restore Maines position as a leader on renewable energy and climate issues. That aspiration was put on hold during the administration of former Gov. Paul LePage, who opposed above-market costs for renewable power.

LePage was instrumental in prompting the Norwegian energy conglomerate formerly called Statoil to abandon plans in 2013 for a floating wind demonstration project off the Maine coast. The 30-megawatt, five-turbine project, called Hywind, eventually was built off Scotland in 2017.

Mills and the entourage wont be able to visit Hywind Scotland, however, due to its distance 15 miles offshore and winter sea conditions, according to officials at the British Embassy who are coordinating the trip. But they will meet with representatives from the former Statoil, now called Equinor, as well as the private developer of the Kincardine Wind project, a 50-megawatt floating wind farm that will be the worlds largest when its due to begin operation later this year.

They also are expected to tour the Levenmouth Demonstration Turbine, a large, offshore wind research and testing facility in Fife, a coastal area of Scotland.

SCOTLAND A MODEL FOR MAINE

Offshore wind farms have helped power Europe for decades, but those ventures mostly involve turbines set on towers driven into nearshore seabeds. The current challenge in offshore energy is to design turbine support platforms that can be anchored in deep water 10 to 20 miles offshore, out of sight of land and in areas where winds are stronger and steadier.

Other states havent been idle during this period, however, and the center of gravity in New Englands nascent offshore wind industry has shifted to ports such as New Bedford, Massachusetts, and New London, Connecticut. This month, for instance, Connecticut officials said 460 construction jobs will be created for a $157 million redevelopment of the State Pier in New London as a hub for the industry, paid in part through a partnership with utilities set to buy the power.

OPPORTUNITIES AND UNCERTAINTIES

Americas first commercial-scale farm, the five-turbine Block Island Wind, began operating off Rhode Island in 2016.That ushered in a new wave of multibillion-dollar projects set to rise up along the East Coast of the United States, from the Carolinas to Massachusetts.

But suddenly, that momentum is threatened.

Development in federal waters needs permits from the Department of the Interiors Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. The industry had been closely watching the permitting process for Vineyard Wind, a major project off Massachusetts with 84 turbines and a capacity of 800 megawatts, enough to power 1 million homes. The $3 billion wind farm is being jointly developed by a partnership that includes Iberdrola and Avangrid, the parent companies of Central Maine Power Co. It was due to be in operation in 2021.

But last August, the bureau dropped a bombshell on Vineyard Wind. It announced a so-called cumulative impacts environmental review of all the projects planned on the East Coast. The agency now says it will make a final decision in December.

The permitting delay forced Vineyard Wind this month to push back its estimated operations date to 2022.

When the bureaus slowdown was first announced last fall, Mills and the governors of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Virginia sent a letter to the secretaries of the Interior and Commerce Departments voicing their concerns.

Further government delay would have negative impacts on this project, offshore wind development along the East Coast and the further expansion of American jobs that support this industry, they wrote.

On another front, Maine officials are participating in a recently formed regional task force made up of states that border the Gulf of Maine. They are trying to work with the federal government to develop an industry in the gulf that can coexist with existing interests, such as fisheries and tourism.

Taken together, those efforts may benefit from the experiences and contacts Maine officials gather during their upcoming overseas trip.

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In Scotland, Mills will glimpse Maine's offshore wind potential - Press Herald

XELLZ B.V. has secured land at the Port of Rosslare in Ireland to establish an offshore wind supply base.

The Dutch company has, through its subsidiary XELLZ Ireland, secured about 200.000m2 of land to facilitate a supply base for installation and operating companies for the near future offshore wind industry.

The prime land is immediately adjacent to the port area and gives direct access to the quay for loading and offloading of offshore wind equipment, as well as pre-installation assembly, XELLZ said.

In addition, there is over 100.000m2 land available for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that wish to get involved in the near future renewable projects.

We are very excited to have been able to secure this land which will give us the opportunity to start the development of the port area and to make it ready for the near future OWFs in the Irish and Celtic Sea, said Petrus (Peter) Bouwhuis, President & CEO of XELLZ B.V.

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XELLZ Finds Offshore Wind Supply Base Location in Ireland - Offshore WIND

Fred. Olsen Windcarriers has been contracted to install the last offshore wind turbines from insolvent German OEM Senvion.

The Norwegian companys Global Wind Service unit will use its jack-up vessel Blue Tern to install the remaining 11 Senvion 6.2M152 machines on the 200MW Trianel Windpark Borkum 2 array in the German North Sea.

The last Senvion offshore machines had rolled out of production facilities in Bremerhaven, Germany, that were subsequently closed.

Senvion had filed for insolvency under self-administration in April 2019, and later managed to sell its European onshore service business and IP, as well as a blade plant in Portugal, to its larger rival Siemens Gamesa, but couldnt find a buyer for most other parts of its business.

We are looking forward to working with our new client and to get the chance to support the finalisation of the Trianel wind farm with our jack-up vessel Blue Tern, said Kristina Pind Lvgren, Head of Nautical, Fred. Olsen Windcarrier.

Blue Tern is ideal for this project due to her capacity. Our related company, Global Wind Service, is already on the project and delivers technicians, QA and Site Management for the installation and mechanical completion of the turbines.

The insolvency of Senvion and bad weather had delayed the installation of Trianel Borkum 2, which was planned to be completed by the end of 2019, its project company led by regional utility EWE said in December.

The Blue Tern is currently in the Dutch port of Eemshaven, waiting for better weather conditions to start its journey to the construction site 45 kilometres north of the island of Borkum.

Dutch contractor Jan de Nul had installed the first 21 Senvion turbines at Borkum 2.

Trianel, a network of German and Swiss utilities, owns 37.99% in the project, while regional utility EWE holds another 37.5%. A joint venture between EWE and the power utility of the city of Zurich owns another 24.51%.

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Fred Olsen to install last Senvion offshore wind turbines - Recharge

BAKKAFROST is poised to moveout into the open sea because bays and inlets around the Faroe Islands are filling up with cages.

The company said it wants to expand its salmon farming operation, but is running out of space. So it has applied to the government in Torshavn for permission to develop futurenew farms to the east of the island of Nolsoy.

The location is well offshore, where cages would have to be positioned much deeper and where the currents are significantly stronger.

Bakkafrost, which bought the Scottish Salmon Compnay last year, believes that if fish farming in the Faroe Islands is to develop further then a rethink is needed on strategy.

CEO Regin Jacobsen told Faroese Television recently that such offshore operations would look similar to oil rigs, but without the drilling tower.

It was also something the company had been studying for the past five yearsand was now keen to get started.

But he cautioned: Farming operationsin theopen sea are very expensive, typically between 1 and 2 billion Danish kroner (DKK) (112 million to 224 million) per unit.

They will also be much larger. At the moment, we dont know specifically what type (design)we are going for.

But what we can seetoday is that similar sites have a diameter of about 200m, with a length of 400m and a height of between 60 and 80m.

The total investment could be up to DKK 15 billion (1.7 billion).

Two years ago, the government changed its legislation to allow open sea farming and Bakkafrost has now applied for development licences. It hoped to get started as soon as the licences were granted, said Jacobsen.

He added: The fjords dohave their limits on the volumes they can produce. Farming out at sea allows us to produce larger sizes.

The fjordswould be reserved for fish to be farmed up to 2-3 kg. After that, we move them out and let them grow up to 6-7 kg, which helps to take pressure off the fjords.

Jacobsen said the Faroe Islands currently produced 90,000 tonnes of salmon a year, but a successful expansion offshore could more than double that figure to around 200,000 tonnes by 2030.

He also told the TV station that the company planned to build a new wellboat capable of carrying up to 900 tonnes, twice the volume of the current vessel, the Hans A Bakka.

Marine experts at the Faroese aquaculture research station Fiskaaling said expanding fish farming activities into the open ocean did present a number of challenges, but stressed it wascertainly not impossible.

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Bakkafrost plans move to offshore farming - Fish Farmer Magazine

Mike Crawley: "Northland is persuing additional projects in Asia"

26 Feb 2020byDavid Foxwell

Northland Power has signed an agreement to acquire Dado Ocean Wind Farm Co Ltd, a development company with multiple early-stage offshore wind development sites near Chodo Island, off the south coast of South Korea

Dado Ocean is currently owned by Eui Jeong Hwang, an experienced wind power developer who will continue to support the project as a local partner, working together with Northland to achieve key milestones for the project. The acquisition is expected to close in the coming weeks, subject to customary closing conditions.

The South Korean projects, which are in early stage development, include multiple development sites located in Chodo-ri and Sonjuk-ri of Yeosu City, 35 km off the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula.

The acquisition builds on Northlands presence in Asia. It is anticipated that South Koreas installed capacity will more than double by 2050, with renewables accounting for approximately 59% compared to 8% in 2018. Offshore wind will make up almost half of this renewable generation.

Northlands current portfolio in Asia includes a 60% equity stake in the 1.04 GW Hai Long offshore wind project, which is under development in Taiwan and a joint venture to pursue offshore wind development opportunities in Chiba Prefecture, Japan.

Northland president and chief executive Mike Crawley said, This agreement builds on Northlands strategy to pursue opportunities in South Korea. We are excited to be part of the countrys energy transformation and the governments renewable energy programme, which aims to achieve 12.0 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030.

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Northland Power expands offshore wind pipeline with Korean deal - Riviera Maritime Media

By The Maritime Executive 02-24-2020 04:52:30

RWE Renewables and Saitec Offshore Technologies have joined forces to test new ways to affordably install and operate offshore wind farms in deep waters. In a joint pilot project called DemoSATH the RWE subsidiary specializing in renewable energy and the Spanish engineering company Saitec Offshore Technologies will start testing a floating platform for wind turbines off the Basque Coast in 2021.

SATH technology is based on a twin hull made of modularly prefabricated and subsequently braced concrete elements. The float can align itself around a single point of mooring according to the wind and wave direction. The objective of the project is to collect data and gain real-life knowledge from the construction, operation and maintenance of the unit. The pilot project will last 3.5 years: 18 months for the planning and construction of the plant, followed by a two-year operating phase.

RWE Renewables CEO Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath declares: We see great potential for floating wind farms worldwide. Especially in countries with deeper coastal waters, this opens up attractive opportunities. With DemoSATH, we are gaining experience with an innovative concrete-based platform technology that will help us to position ourselves in this growth market.

Saitec Offshores COO Luis Gonzlez-Pinto states: The potentiality of SATH to reduce the cost of floating wind is immense. Now is time to build and operate this floating wind turbine and widen this exciting market. Collaboration between both companies is seen as highly beneficial, as he explains: This is an agreement between a well-established player in offshore wind, and a young innovative company. We are confident that this combination can provide massive gains for both parties.

RWE Renewables will finance part of the project costs, contribute its many years of offshore experience, and gain access to the resulting findings in return. The focus is on the performance and on the load behaviour of the platform under all possible conditions. In addition, the partners are interested in operational experience, which is essential for the planning of future commercial wind farms. Among the things to be tested are safe and efficient solutions for vessel accessibility to the platform and for the replacement of large components. In order to be able to flexibly adapt offers for offshore wind farms worldwide to local conditions, RWE is testing other technological options for Floating Offshore in addition to SATH.

DemoSATH will be Saitec Offshores second project in open waters. In April 2020 the deployment of a scaled 1:6 model off the Coast of Santander is scheduled. For the DemoSATH project, Saitec Offshore Technologies provides the design and Project Management during the whole lifecycle of the development. The company is also managing the operation, maintenance and data treatment during the testing. This enables Saitec Offshore Technologies to capture improvement and optimisation opportunities throughout all phases.

For the large prototype, the structure and the 2MW wind turbine will be assembled in the port of Bilbao. The base of the structure will be approx. 30 metres wide and approx. 64 metres long. The platform including the turbine will be towed to its anchorage point in a test field (BIMEP) twomiles off the coast. The sea is about 85 metres deep at this point. Hybrid mooring lines, composed by chains and fibre, anchored to the seabed will hold the floating body in position. The plant is expected to go into operation in the third quarter of 2021. The electricity generated during the project will be fed into the Spanish power grid.

The products and services herein described in this press release are not endorsed by The Maritime Executive.

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Floating Platform Solution for Offshore Wind Turbines to be Tested - The Maritime Executive

rsted has signed a wharf lease and a 20-year operations and maintenance (O&M) lease with the Port of Taichung in Taiwan.

The leased wharfs will be upgraded and utilized for the construction of the Greater Changhua offshore wind farms, and the O&M site will serve as the O&M base for rsteds Changhua offshore wind farms from 2022 onwards.

The 20-year lease with the Port of Taichung shows our long-term commitment to fully developing and implementing in Changhua County, Matthias Bausenwein, President of rsted Asia-Pacific, said.

We want to ensure that we are well prepared for the continuing offshore wind development in Taiwan by upgrading the harbor infrastructure for construction and operations works. We also expect that during the O&M phase, our Greater Changhua wind farms will create several hundred local direct and indirect jobs with our contractors and suppliers. These efforts are a win-win situation for the development of the offshore wind industry and local communities.

rsteds Greater Changhua wind farms are located approximately 35-60 kilometers off the coast of Changhua County. The Port of Taichung has been selected as the most suitable O&M base for these wind farms due to its proximity to the sites, water depth, wharf facilities, and navigational access quality.

In accordance with the construction timeline for Greater Changhua 1 & 2a, rsted has begun the upgrade of the leased wharfs to be ready to store components, such as pin piles, towers, and blades.

The wharf lease with the Port of Taichung will cover the period during which rsted plans to install at least 1.82GW offshore wind capacity in Taiwan.

rsteds investment in the Port of Taichung for supporting the construction and O&M of the Greater Changhua wind farms will help further develop industries related to offshore wind industry and create a lot of local jobs, Port of Taichung Taiwan International Ports Corporation President Lu Chan-yu said.

Also, it enables the Port of Taichung to play an important role in the construction and operation of offshore wind farms. TIPC welcomes the rsteds investment and look forwards to working together on furthering offshore wind industry development in Taiwan.

The construction of the O&M building will begin in 2020, with the expected inauguration in 2022.

Andreas Munk-Janson, Head of Operations of rsted Asia-Pacific, said: rsted pioneers offshore wind in Taiwan by investing in the construction of a brand-new building, serving as the O&M base for our offshore wind farms. Once weve completed the construction of this building, the onshore-based O&M staff and management team will be stationed there to support the offshore-based O&M teams for these wind farms. Drawing on rsteds extensive experience in operating offshore wind farms, the building design has been optimized to drive operational efficiency.

Continued here:

rsted Homeports in Port of Taichung - Offshore WIND

rsted has signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with the Dutch non-profit organization Stichting Noordzeeboerderij to together work on combining offshore wind and nature-inclusive seaweed farms.

The collaboration will see the parties working on combining mooring solutions with nature development in multi-use systems to realize multi-use sea farms.

Stichting Noordzeeboerderij initiated the cooperation as it is currently working on a prototype of a nature-inclusive anchoring system called the Eco-anchor, which will be designed for several multi-use activities within offshore wind farms.

According to the Dutch organization, currently, seaweed production in the North Sea occurs on a pilot scale, while the aim is to grow towards 500km2 of nature-inclusive seaweed cultivation within wind farms by 2030.

In this way, wind farms are expected to effectively become multi-use sea farms.

The Eco-anchor prototype will be ready for testing later this year at the offshore North Sea Innovation Lab, after which it will head out to an offshore wind farm.

Stichting Noordzeeboerderij emphasized that rsted is the first wind farm owner to express support for this development.

If the first tests turn out to be a success, rsted is open to exploring whether a combination of multi-use asset moorings and the Eco-anchor solution could fit its strategy for natureinclusive solutions in offshore wind farms, the organization concluded.

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rsted Backs Offshore Wind and Seaweed Farms Combo Project - Offshore WIND

RWE Renewables and Saitec Offshore Technologies have joined forces to test new ways to affordably install and operate offshore wind farms in deep waters.

In a joint pilot project called 'DemoSATH', the RWE subsidiary specialising in renewable energy and the Spanish engineering company Saitec Offshore Technologies will start testing a floating platform for wind turbines off the Basque Coast in 2021.

SATH technology is based on a twin hull made of modularly prefabricated and subsequently braced concrete elements. The float can align itself around a single point of mooring according to the wind and wave direction. The objective of the project is to collect data and gain real-life knowledge from the construction, operation and maintenance of the unit. The pilot project will last 3.5 years: 18 months for the planning and construction of the plant, followed by a two-year operating phase.

RWE Renewables will finance part of the project costs and gain access to the resulting findings in return. The focus is on the performance and on the load behaviour of the platform under all possible conditions.

In addition, the partners are interested in operational experience, which is essential for the planning of future commercial wind farms. Among the things to be tested are safe and efficient solutions for vessel accessibility to the platform and for the replacement of large components. In order to be able to flexibly adapt offers for offshore wind farms worldwide to local conditions, RWE is testing other technological options for Floating Offshore in addition to SATH.

DemoSATH will be Saitecs second project in open waters. In April 2020 the deployment of a scaled 1:6 model off the Coast of Santander is scheduled. For the DemoSATH project, Saitec Offshore Technologies provides the design and Project Management during the whole lifecycle of the development. The company is also managing the operation, maintenance and data treatment during the testing. This enables Saitec Offshore Technologies to capture improvement and optimisation opportunities throughout all phases.

For the large prototype, the structure and the 2 MW wind turbine will be assembled in the port of Bilbao, Spain. The base of the structure will be approximately 30 m wide and 64 m long. The platform including the turbine will be towed to its anchorage point in a test field (BIMEP) 2 miles off the coast. The sea is about 85 m deep at this point. Hybrid mooring lines, composed by chains and fibre, anchored to the seabed will hold the floating body in position. The plant is expected to go into operation in 3Q2021. The electricity generated during the project will be fed into the Spanish power grid.

Read the article online at: https://www.energyglobal.com/wind/26022020/rwe-renewables-and-saitec-offshore-technologies-to-test-new-offshore-platforms/

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RWE Renewables and Saitec Offshore Technologies to test new offshore platforms - Energy Global

The spread is optimized for inter-array cablelay and includes a patented quadrant handling system for second-end deployment operations.

(Courtesy Royal IHC)

Offshore staff

KINDERDIJK, the Netherlands Global Marine Group has contracted Royal IHC to design and deliver an integrated power cablelay spread for its newly chartered vessel, Normand Clipper.

The spread is optimized for inter-array cablelay and includes a patented quadrant handling system for second-end deployment operations.

The equipment also includes IHCs 15Te break-back tensioners and an overarching control system. This integrates the control of the carousel, tensioners and quadrant handling system, which reduces the required number of operators.

The modular design of the spread enables rapid mobilization and demobilization. This, the company said, allows for greater versatility regarding the type of contracts the vessel can carry out, ensuring flexibility for future operations.

Together with KCI, its independent engineering subsidiary, IHC will provide the equipment within an accelerated delivery period. The tensioners will be provided on a long-term charter agreement from the companys base in Newcastle.

02/26/2020

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IHC to supply cablelay spread for the Normand Clipper - Offshore Oil and Gas Magazine