Category Archives: Offshore

Shell and the Spanish energy company Capital Energy have signed an agreement to analyze the joint development of projects in the offshore wind energy sector in Spain and Portugal.

Leveraging their complementary skills and strengths, both companies will explore opportunities in line with their interest in these countries, especially in the field of floating offshore wind power, Capital Energy said.

Shell has more than two decades of experience in the development of wind infrastructure, as well as more than half a century in the field of marine engineering in the North Sea.

Capital Energy, based in Madrid, has, for its part, ambitious growth plans in this sector, with approximately 2,000 MW under development. The company has also signed several agreements with shipyards and other relevant industrial agents in the Canary archipelago.

This agreement demonstrates our firm commitment to offshore wind power and together with Shell we will not only be able to supply green and affordable energy, but also to promote the socio-economic development of those regions where we operate our wind farms, Pablo Alcn, Head of Offshore at Capital Energy, said.

Spain has recently approved a roadmap for the development of offshore wind which calls for the development of 3 GW of floating offshore wind capacity by 2030.

The country plans to carry out its first offshore wind auction, in the Canary region, in 2023.

The roadmap for offshore wind energy in Spain, proposed in December 2021, represents a great opportunity to explore the development of projects in the country that align with our strengths and strategic ambition to be an integrated energy leader. We are very excited to collaborate with Capital Energy in exploring those opportunities, Natalia Latorre, president of Shell Spain, said.

Portugal reportedly plans to hold its first offshore wind auction this summer, with between 3 GW and 4 GW of floating wind capacity expected to be auctioned off.

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Shell Sets Sights on Offshore Wind in Spain and Portugal - Offshore WIND

Scott McCallum, a Partner and renewable energy expert with law firm Shepherd and Wedderburn, examines the challenges facing offshore wind in the latest episode of the Sustainable Scotland podcast.

The UK Government has set an ambition to have 50 Gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind power installed by 2030 - a tough target with only 11GW currently installed and 10GW under construction (or close to it).

McCallum said: "Projects which are in their infancy are going to have to contribute towards those 2030 targets. It can only happen if we manage to deploy offshore wind consistently over a longer period of time.

"We can't afford to have the peaks and troughs we've had to date because we will lose the supply chain, we will lose the developers. And well lose the potential benefits to clean energy that can be achieved within the next few years if we get it right."

The speed at which large offshore wind projects were consented (approved) had to improve, McCallum said.

Some projects are taking a decade or more to be consented - and McCallum said challenging issues, like the impact of wind farms on birds, had to be addressed earlier, at the so-called 'pre-application' stage.

"There are a few big issues, where the Government can give more of a steer," he said. "The big one is the impact on birds and in particular, impacts on European protected sites. That's been a reason for a lot of delays because people argue over the science. They argue over the cumulative impacts and whether all the different projects together are having an adverse effect on some protected sites.

"There is an opportunity to take a more holistic approach to protecting the environment, and protecting birds, and put in place measures to create a better environment for birds in the round."

McCallum also said a more strategic approach was needed to get the power generated by offshore wind into the electricity grid.

"There's a real desire to take a more coordinated approach to the grid - to ensure that every new generating station, every new offshore wind farm that comes along, isn't getting its own grid connection," he said.

"The difficulty just now is that its stalling projects getting started because applicants don't know where they're going to be connecting."

McCallum said both consenting issues and grid connections had to be resolved quickly - but if they were, the future was bright.

He concluded: "The UK has a fantastic wind resource. All the world's main offshore wind developers are very focused in trying to develop projects in the UK. We have a very supportive UK Government, and a very supportive Scottish Government.

"All the parts are there to make this work. There are loads of hurdles we're going to have to overcome but if everyone is aligned in trying to find solutions, I think we can achieve something big where offshore wind can genuinely contribute massive amounts to the energy mix in the UK - in terms of clean energy, affordable energy, and security of supply."

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Sustainable Scotland: UK on verge of "something big" in offshore wind - The Scotsman

5/10/2022

Responding to the Queenss speech, Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) said the proposed Energy Bill must create the predictability needed to attract the long-term investment crucial to boosting the nations energy security.

OEUK has called on the government to try to enact the bill by the end of 2022. The aim should be to minimize any uncertainties over the future rules and taxes affecting the industry creating a clear investment landscape.

This would encourage investors to spend the money needed to maintain flows of oil and gas in the short-term while simultaneously allowing those same companies to also build the energy systems of the future such as offshore wind and mass hydrogen production.

The UKs offshore industry is providing the nation with the oil and gas needed to keep homes warm, fuel its vehicles and businesses and generate its electricity, said Deirdre Michie, OBE, chief executive of OEUK.

It is also leading in the development of low-carbon technologies such as carbon capture, hydrogen production and offshore wind. The offshore industry has already invested billions in low-carbon infrastructure with another 250bn of investment planned in the UK continental shelf by 2030. Half of that investment would be in low-carbon technologies like wind power.

Last year the offshore industry and the UK government signed up the North Sea Transition Deal, a partnership aimed at achieving net zero by 2050. The Energy Bill announced in todays Queen's Speech should build on that partnership. Our industry remains committed to working with government. But any period of protracted uncertainty risks undermining investor confidence.

So, its important that this bill is put in place as soon as possible and that it also creates a stable landscape for investors, which in turn is supported by a predictable and competitive tax structure. That would give our industry the confidence to attract investment, support energy security, and help the government reach its target of achieving net zero by 2050.

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Offshore Energies UK: Energy Bill must focus on building the investor confidence - WorldOil

Sweden-based Hexicon and Elia Grid International (EGI) have joined forces to connect the wind energy produced by floating offshore wind farms to the onshore grid.

Under the agreement, the partners will develop concepts and projects to integrate large-scale floating offshore wind farms into the onshore power systems.

By doing so, the two companies expect to create the opportunity to harvest the full potential of floating offshore wind to provide clean energy to millions of households and accelerate the energy transition.

The five-year-long cooperation consists of two phases, covering the provision of expertise during the projects pre-development and development phases.

The ability to early plan and design an efficient and robust electrical system is key to the business case and successful projects. Hexicons and EGIs competences are fully complementary and very well matched, said Marcus Thor, CEO of Hexicon.

EGI brings unsurpassed global experience within electrical transmission and large-scale RES integration projects. While Hexicon offers profound deep sea and floating wind knowledge.

According to the partners, they will design the power transmission part of floating wind farms and optimise the connection to onshore power systems.

By solving the technical challenges related to floating offshore wind projects, EGI and Hexicon are hoping to turn floating offshore wind into an attractive market for investors.

Connecting offshore wind technology to the electrical grid system is a complex and costly endeavour. With this cooperation, EGI is committed to providing state-of-the-art expertise and proposing innovative solutions that will unleash the development of cost-efficient, large-scale renewable energy, said Didier Wiot, CEO of EGI.

Potential geographies for the cooperation include the Mediterranean as well as the Baltic and Atlantic Sea basins.

Work is expected to start in June 2022.

Hexicon has its own patented technology TwinWind which consists of a floating foundation with two turbines. The twin-turbine design is said to enable more turbines per sea area, which increases the energy yield and reduces the environmental impact.

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Hexicon and Elia to Optimise Floating Offshore Wind Farm Transmission Connection - Offshore WIND

Vena Energy Holdings Ltd (Vena Energy), Shikoku Electric Power (Yonden), and Toho Gas have announced the establishment of a consortium for the development of an offshore wind project in Aomori South, Japan.

The site was identified by the Japanese Government as a promising area for the development of offshore wind projects under the Act on Promoting the Utilization of Sea Areas for the Development of Marine Renewable Energy Power Generation Facilities.

According to the consortium, the project is currently undergoing all steps of the development process including the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), technical and sustainability-related activities, as well as stakeholders and community engagement, with the intention to participate in the auction following the potential designation of Aomori South as offshore wind promotion area.

With the Aomori South Offshore wind project, we look forward to contributing to the achievement of Japans energy independence and carbon neutrality goals, while empowering and benefiting our local communities and stakeholders, said Juan Mas Valor, Head of Vena Energy.

Japan is aiming to be carbon neutral by 2050 and has set a target of deploying 10 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 and 30-45 GW by 2040.

In 2019, the Japanese Government designated three areas offshore Aomori prefecture:Nihon sea (north),Nihon sea (south), and Mutsu bay.

Last year, Iberdrola signed an agreement with Japans Cosmo Eco Power and the engineering firm Hitz to jointly developthe 600 MW Seihoku-oki projectin Aomori prefecture, in the northwest of Japan.

In March 2021, JERA also submitted a Primary Environmental Impact Consideration Document to Japans Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) for a new offshore wind project in Aomori prefecture.

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Asia Pacific Companies Team Up on Offshore Wind Project in Japan - Offshore WIND

Equinor has agreed to sell its stakes in two oil and gas fields, in the Norwegian North Sea, to private equity-backed Sval Energi for a cash consideration of $1bn.

Sval Energi will acquire Equinors full stake in the Greater Ekofisk Area, which comprises three fields, and the Tor Unit, and a 19% stake in the Martin Linge field.

Equinor owns a 7.6% stake in the Ekofisk area licences PL018, PL018B, and PL275 that includes the Ekofisk, Eldfisk, and Embla fields, and a 6.6% interest in the Tor Unit.

As part of the deal, Equinor will also sell its 18% stake in the Norpipe oil pipeline that transports crude oil onshore from the Greater Ekofisk Area.

Upon the completion of the deal, Equinor will own a 51% operatorship stake in the Martin Linge field and will have no stake in the Greater Ekofisk Area.

The agreement also includes a contingent payment that is linked to the prices of oil and gas in 2022 and 2023.

Equinor South Norway exploration production senior vice-president Rune Nedregaard said: With this transaction we are optimising our oil and gas portfolio in line with Equinors strategy, capturing value from several of our assets.

Ekofisk has played an important role in Norway and Equinors oil and gas journey as the first producing field on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

The Greater Ekofisk Area is an area where Equinor has limited participation, and we have therefore decided to sell our position in the area during a period of high prices, and to redirect capital to other core areas for the business.

Sval Energi expects the deal to add 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day to its portfolio.

The transaction is scheduled to be completed during the second half of this year and is subject to customary government and licence approvals.

Last month, Equinor announced that it had made a significant oil and gas discovery in the Kveikje prospect, in the Norwegian North Sea.

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Equinor to divest $1bn worth stakes in two fields offshore Norway - Offshore Technology

Australian energy player BHP hassecured acceptance from the countrys offshore regulator for its infill development drilling programme, which will be carried out at a field in Commonwealth waters, offshore Western Australia.

The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) informed on Tuesday that it had approved the Pyrenees phase 4 infill drilling programme, which BHP submitted on 13 December 2021, on behalf of the Pyrenees joint venture partners within production permit WA-42-L, comprising of BHP Petroleum and Santos.

The offshore regulator explained that BHP proposed to undertake infill development drilling activities at the Crosby South Well Centre Crosby-3H1 and Crosby-4H2 well locations and at the Stickle Well Centre tickle-4H1 well location in Commonwealth waters, as part of the Pyrenees development, which covers crude production from fields located in both WA-42-L and neighbouring WA-43-L.

Located approximately 13 km outside the northern boundary of the Ningaloo Marine Park, the proposed activities will be carried out in a water depth of approximately 200 metres. The activities proposed by BHP represent Phase 4 of the ongoing development of the Pyrenees field development programme.

Furthermore, the Australian players planned scope of work entails well intervention for purposes of water shut-off at the Crosby-3H1 location, two horizontal side-track laterals at the Stickle-4H1 well location and potentially a contingent side-track lateral at the Crosby-4H2 well location. Therefore, the companys programme includes the drilling of up to two lateral wellbores from the Stickle-4H1 well centre, subsea well intervention on the Crosby-3H1 well, and a contingent single lateral side-track at the Crosby-4H2 well location.

According to BHP, the Stickle-4H1 dual lateral re-entry has the potential for the largest volume of released hydrocarbons while the Crosby-4H2 single lateral well has the potential to flow, but at a reduced rate and volume compared with Stickle-4H1. On the other hand, Crosby-3H1 is a dual-lateral well which requires artificial gas lift operation in order to produce from the well.

NOPSEMA advised that BHPs operational area for these activities is a 2 km radius around each of the two well centres and the drilling will be undertaken using a semi-submersible mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU). Moreover, the Australian company revealed that both the well intervention for water shut-off at Crosby-3H1 and the two re-entry side-track laterals at the Stickle-4H1 well, and the potential contingent side-track lateral at Crosby-4H2 well will be short in duration.

Given the work scopes would be undertaken consecutively, contingent on weather conditions and unforeseen circumstances, the total campaign duration is estimated to take three to four months, including MODU mobilisation and positioning at each well centre. In addition, BHP stated that the planned drilling activities will be undertaken 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

While the exact date for the infill drilling activities is yet to be confirmed, the earliest anticipated start of this campaign is expected in the second quarter of 2022. However, the environmental assessment allows for the drilling to take place at any time during 2022 and 2023 to account for contingency purposes due to MODU availability and weather constraints.

Based on BHPs records, the Pyrenees operation is made up of six offshore oil fields, which were co-developed with Apache Energy.The fields produce crude oil from six reservoirs via a single stand-alone floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit, located offshore in the Exmouth Sub-basin portion of the Carnarvon Basin, approximately 45 km northwest of Exmouth, Western Australia.

The FPSO Pyrenees Venture is split between production permit WA-42-L BHP (71. 4 per cent ) and Santos (28.6 per cent) and the adjacent permit WA-43-L, where BHP holds 40 per cent working interest, Santos 31.5 per cent and Inpex the remaining 28.5 per cent.

This FPSO, which is operated by MODEC, can process 96,000 barrels of oil per day and has a combined gas lift/re-injection capacity of 60 million cubic feet per day. In addition, it has an oil storage capacity of approximately 850,000 barrels.

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BHP cleared to go ahead with infill drilling campaign off Australia - Offshore Energy

US Wind and rsted Conducting Offshore Wind Research - State of Delaware News

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US Wind and rsted Conducting Offshore Wind Research - State of Delaware News - news.delaware.gov

SCHENECTADY General Electric's largest union, IUE-CWA, says GE should ditch plans to spin off its GE Power division in Schenectady into a separate company and instead invest in making offshore wind turbines at the historic industrial site, which dates back to GE's founding in the 1890s.

IUE-CWA, which represents 600 union workers in Schenectady that make steam turbines and generators used in gas-fired power plants, made the plea last week ahead of GE's annual shareholder meeting.

The Times Union revealed last week that GE has been meeting with state and local officials about potential incentives the company would be eligible for should it decide to establish an offshore wind manufacturing facility in the Capital Region.

IUE-CWA is part of a coalition of labor and environmental groups that wants to see GE become the first U.S.-based company to make offshore wind turbines domestically.

And they see GE's Schenectady campus as the ideal location for such a venture.

The group, known as the Coalition for Sustainable and Secure Energy and Aviation Manufacturing, held a little-watched online conference last week to make its case.

The event included U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer of New York, who has been urging GE to start making offshore wind turbines in the Capital Region and recently secured $29 million in federal funding for the Port of Albany to be able to handle massive offshore wind turbine components.

"GE has no excuse not to put IUE-CWA members in Schenectady, who already have experience in manufacturing turbines, to work building wind turbines we so desperately need," CWA President Chris Shelton said at the event, which was held virtually.

The Port of Albany is already developing a new site along the Hudson River in the town of Bethlehem where offshore wind turbine towers - not the turbines themselves - would be assembled for several wind farms being constructed off the shores of Long Island.

Schumer's federal funding package will provide money for infrastructure upgrades that the Port of Albany needs to handle and ship offshore wind farm components down the Hudson to ocean sites. Offshore wind turbines are much larger than those used in wind farms based on land.

GE makes one of the largest and most powerful offshore wind turbines, called the Haliade-X. The massive turbines stand nearly 900 feet tall, and each one can generate enough electricity to power 20,000 homes.

But the Haliade-X, like other offshore wind turbines, is made abroad currently, closer to existing offshore wind farms in Europe and Asia.

Schumer has been pressuring GE for months to start making the Haliade-X in the Capital Region as well.

"Let's get this done," Schumer said during the online meeting.

GE won't say what its plans are. When asked for comment, a spokesman for GE pointed the Times Union to a statement the company provided the newspaper last week when asked about its discussions about incentives with Gov. Kathy Hochul's administration, which were revealed in state lobbying records.

"We will continue to engage with federal, state and local officials on this topic and other important clean energy priorities," GE said.

GE's factory workers in Schenectady are represented by Local 301, which is the local affiliate of IUE-CWA, which stands for International Union of Electrical Workers-Communications Workers of America.

Christian Gonzalez, who works at GE's Schenectady plant, said during last week's press conference that he and other Local 301 members provide a trained workforce for making offshore wind turbine components in Schenectady.

"We are ready to build the machines that will power our future," Gonzalez said, referring to wind turbine technology that is being embraced as an alternative to fossil fuel power plants that contribute to climate change. "We have the skills, we have the space, and we have a pipeline of workers. But GE has yet to make a commitment."

Efforts to get GE to build a local offshore wind turbine factory come at a critical time in the company's history. Last year, GE's CEO Larry Culp announced plans to break apart GE's three main industrial sectors - healthcare, power and aviation, into three separate public companies.

The spin-off of GE Power is scheduled for 2024. It's unclear what an independent GE Power would look like and whether or not GE's Schenectady operations would survive. Local 301's existing labor contract with GE expires next year, and the last contract negotiations were contentious.

The IUE-CWA claims that GE would end up spending $5 billion to break the company apart, and the union says GE would be better off investing the money in sites like Schenectady, which once employed tens of thousands of union workers. GE says its plans are moving forward.

Gonzalez said he is worried that GE's plans to spin off the Schenectady operations will only mean fewer union jobs in the future. The Schenectady native said when he was hired by GE at the age of 19, it was a dream come true.

"I thought I'd made it," he said. "I thought that I was set."

He said growing up in the city, kids he viewed as well-off financially often had a parent that worked at GE.

"In Schenectady, GE was a symbol of opportunity and hope," Gonzalez said.

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GE's union: Build offshore wind turbines in Schenectady - Times Union

Californias energy regulator has unveiled an ambitious set of offshore wind targets as part of a broader statewide push to make electricity 100 percent renewable by 2045.

Approximately 3 gigawatts of offshore wind should be powering the states grid by 2030 enough to power about 3 million average homes in the state, the California Energy Commission determined.

An additional 7-12 gigawatts should be available by 2045 boosting the states total offshore wind capacity to about 10-15 gigawatts by that time, according toa draft reportpublished Friday.

The report also acknowledged that California has upwards of 21.8 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity, with the potential for greater technological developments to boost production over the next few decades.

These preliminary megawatt planning goals are established at levels that can contribute significantly to achieving Californias climate goals, the report stated.

Local and national environment groups applauded the targets, calling them critical to eventually powering the state solely through renewable energy sources.

The powerful winds off the Pacific coast are one of Californias largest untapped sources of renewable energy, Laura Deehan, state director of Environment California Research and Policy Center, said ina statement.

The announced targets mean that now we are really sailing towards a brighter, 100 percent renewable future, she added.

Officials released the targets after legislation passed last year tasked the agency with developing a strategic plan for offshore wind development by June 30, 2023. That included releasing wind megawatt planning goals for 2030 and 2045 by June 1 of this year.

The initial 3 gigawatts planned for 2030 would likely come from one of two places, the report found.

The first would be a full build-out of the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area a 399-square mile zone off Californias central coast,identified last yearby the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

The second option would involve a combination of a partial build-out of Morro Bay and the Humboldt Wind Energy Area, located off the northern coast, according to the report.

While the northern coasts wind resources are among the best in the world with high renewable energy potential and wind speeds consistent and favorable for commercial development, that area is isolated from the states grid and would require new transmission infrastructure, the report authors noted.

Transmission along the central coast, meanwhile, is already robust and located near large load centers, according to the report. The Central Coast also provides opportunities to repurpose aging infrastructure, such as the 2.2-gigawatt Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, the authors added.

Last year, President Bidenannounced a goalof deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity nationwide by 2030 while creating a pathway toward 110 gigawatts by 2050.

Two months later, the administrationreached an agreementwith California to advance specific wind energy development projects off the states northern and central coasts, as The Hill previously reported.

At the time, the Interior Department said initial areas of development could bring up to 4.6 gigawatts of energy to the grid and the federal government aimed to begin selling wind energy leases in mid-2022.

So far, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has conducted competitive lease sales solely on the East Coast, while the agency has designated three areas off the coast of California for possible wind energy projects: Humboldt on the northern coast Coast and Morro Bay and Diablo Canyon off the central coast, according to the report.

Prior to the publication of the draft report on Friday, a coalition of environmental groups called Offshore Wind Now sent a letterto Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) stressing the urgency of advancing the offshore wind sector.

By setting an ambitious goal, they argued, the state will send a strong signal to the market and to the federal government that California needs and is preparing for offshore wind.

Following the report release, Johanna Neumann, a senior campaign director at Environment America, added that the sooner we tap into Americas abundant offshore wind potential, the sooner well have cleaner air and less global warming pollution.

California set a goal for 100% clean energy and todays step forward shows they are serious about hitting it, she said.

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California unveils ambitious set of offshore wind targets - The Hill