Category Archives: Offshore

The government of Denmark and several political parties have agreed to add up to 3 GW of new offshore wind capacity to be developed before 2030 as part of the Finance Act 2022.

According to the green sub-agreement to the Finance Act 2022, 2 GW of offshore wind capacity must be offered for development before 2030.

It has also been agreed that the government, in connection with the energy and supply plan in 2022, will present analyzes that can form the basis for a possible tender for an additional 1 GW.

Speeding Up Development of 10 GW North Sea Energy Island

Furthermore, the parties to the agreement have agreed to develop the North Sea energy island to its full capacity as soon as possible, with 2040 as the target point.

No More Lottery, Please.

Currently, Denmark plans to add up to 7.2 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030. This includes the 3 GW of capacity at the North Sea energy island, the 2 GW at the Bornholm energy island in the Baltic Sea, the up to 1.2 GW at the Hessel zone in the Baltic Sea, and 1 GW at the Thor zone in the North Sea.

Mads Nipper, CEO of rsted, the worlds leading offshore wind development, has welcomed the new sub-agreement, but has also called on the government to change the current tendering specifications.

Thanks a lot to the Danish Government and support parties for further accelerating the near term roll out of offshore wind in Denmark! Our seabed and wind conditions are ideal to be a net exporter of green energy. No lottery next time, please Nipper said in a social media post.

Nipper was referring to the outcome of the recently closed tender for the development of the Thor offshore wind farm which came down to a lottery draw after more than one pre-selected bidder had proposed to build the wind farm to the maximum capacity of 1 GW at the minimum price of DKK 0.01/kWh.

According to the current tender specifications, the concession agreement is awarded to the tenderer with the lowest tender price. If more people bid with the same lowest bid price, the bidder with the highest proposed wind farm capacity wins. If both the bid price and the capacity are the same, the tender is decided by a lottery draw.

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Denmark to Add up to 3 GW of New Offshore Wind Capacity by 2030 | Offshore Wind - Offshore WIND

Offshore staff

HORTEN, Norway Heerema Marine Contractors (HMC) has renewed its long-term system support program (LTSSP) contract with Kongsberg Digital for another five years.

The LTSSP is in support of a K-Sim Offshore Crane simulation system, which features digital twins of HMCs semisubmersible construction vessels, ships, and barges. HMCs simulation center is at the companys headquarters in Leiden, the Netherlands. The simulation system was installed in 2015.

Kongsberg Digital will continue to maintain the simulators, from hardware upgrades through to additional ship models, library objects, and equipment models. The simulation system is used to confirm feasibility of new methods and equipment and to optimize efficiency and safety performance for current execution methods.

Jan Pieter de Vries, Manager Simulations and Visual Products, HMC Academy, said: By renewing this LTSSP we are ensuring that our clients, offshore crew and project teams continue to benefit from the most advanced simulation-based training and project preparation on the market, simulating real-world scenarios.

The simulation center includes two offshore crane operator domes and a bridge with K-Sim DP simulator, based on the same Kongsberg Maritime K-Pos DP systems used on HMCs vessels. Detailed models of Heeremas semisubmersible crane vessels, heavy-lift vessel, tugs and barges ensure realistic scenarios and enable detailed pre-mission training for heavy-lift projects.

12/06/2021

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Heerema renews contract with Kongsberg Digital | Offshore - Offshore Oil and Gas Magazine

Gulf of Mexico 

Interview with: Tracy W. Krohn, Chairman & CEO, W&T Offshore

December 7, 2021

An independent oil and natural gas producer, focused in the Gulf of Mexico in the US, W&T Offshore has weathered the pandemic and is well positioned in the market. Armed with over $250m in cash, an inventory of high-quality development and exploration opportunities, and a track record of making accretive acquisitions, the company is well placed to navigate a changing operating environment in the US. The Chairman and CEO at W&T Offshore, Tracy W. Krohn, discussed getting through a pandemic, incorporating ESG, and the future of the industry, with World Finance.

By focusing on the Gulf of Mexico for over 35 years, the company has developed the ability to operate efficiently and effectively in the basin amid various shocks like commodity price fluctuations and hurricanes. Currently, W&T is active in 41 producing fields in federal and state waters and has under lease approximately 611,000 gross acres, including approximately 424,000 gross acres on the Gulf of Mexico shelf and approximately 187,000 gross acres in the Gulf of Mexico deepwater. A majority of the companys daily production is derived from wells it operates. Krohn commented, Our focus on the Gulf of Mexico has been the key to our success. Due to our expertise, other operators seek us out when looking for partners. We have attracted and maintained an excellent technical team with deep experience in the Gulf. We have also developed good relationships with state and federal regulatory agencies and have an excellent safety record. All of these elements contribute to our leadership position in the Gulf of Mexico.

For the oil and gas industry, changes and adaptation have been part of its evolution. In the Gulf of Mexico, W&T has witnessed significant changes to its peers in the basin. Years ago, the area was mainly a reserve of larger corporations that were focused on shallow waters. Those operators then transitioned to drilling to greater depths and in deeper waters. This was driven by huge amounts of capital and technology required to pursue those higher risk, higher potential opportunities. Today, the players are fewer and the large independents and majors are focused primarily on ultra-deep waters or onshore, and W&T has prospered as others exited the Gulf of Mexico. Throughout our history, W&T has capitalised on opportunities that arose in the Gulf. We have built the company through a combination of two main strategies. First, opportunistic, accretive acquisitions and the successful exploitation of those acquired properties. And second, a very successful exploratory and development drilling programme. Moving forward, we will continue to look at both and the relative benefits each offers, said Krohn.

Working togetherNew policies from President Bidens administration have also presented changes for the oil and gas industry. In January, the administration announced a moratorium on new oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters (which was subsequently blocked by a federal judge in Louisiana in June). Despite such political challenges, Krohn is optimistic. He noted, W&T has successfully operated during both Republican and Democratic administrations for decades. The officials and regulators we work with on a daily basis are good, pragmatic people. Rules and regulations change but weve always been able to find a way to work together. W&T is not losing sight of the need to remain relevant amid widespread calls for changes to the energy mix in the US. When asked about the transition away from fossil fuels, Krohn offered a pragmatic perspective. People will have different views on what our energy mix should look like in the future and how quickly we need to make changes to achieve that mix. However, any transition will take time and the oil and gas industry should play a role in managing that change successfully. That should not be a controversial statement. I do think there will be ramifications if renewable sources of energy cant deliver on their promises and if proven, reliable sources of energy like oil and gas continue to be starved of investment to such a degree that they cant make up the demand gap. Political leaders should consider the unintended consequences of that type of scenario.

We have actually been successfully managing ESG elements for a long time; we just communicate about them differently today

Similarly, companies are now learning to navigate a growing focus on sustainability. The company understands that environmental, social, and governance (ESG) is becoming increasingly important to many of its stakeholders. To successfully access the credit or equity markets today, ESG is an important consideration. Krohn continued, We have actually been successfully managing ESG elements for a long time; we just communicate about them differently today. For example, we have an excellent track record of operating in a responsible and safe way that respects the environment and protects workers. That didnt start recently because of ESG. What has changed is that our processes and reporting are now more formalised and we are communicating more effectively with our stakeholders.

W&T issued its inaugural ESG report this year and has demonstrated its commitment to improving its ESG performance and transparency by adding ESG targets to its executive compensation programme. The industry is recovering from the impacts of COVID-19 that ignited a collapse in prices, slowed activity and adversely impacted the financial position of numerous companies. W&T was able to work through the situation more effectively than most. In the early days of the pandemic, when oil prices went negative, we adjusted our capital spending and temporarily shut-in properties that werent economic at very low prices. This wasnt the first time we have seen a rapid and precipitous fall in prices. We knew what we had to do and quickly took action. Our properties are all conventional fields. They have shallower declines and we can reduce spending for a period of time without a major financial impact, said Krohn.

Battling a hurricaneIn November, the company released its third quarter results showing strong operational and financial results reflective of the improving economy. During the third quarter of 2021, the company saw an 85 percent increase in revenues for the quarter to $133.9m compared to $72.5m in the same period last year. Production for the quarter stood at 3.2m barrels of oil equivalent comprising 1.1m barrels of oil, 0.4m barrels of natural gas liquids, and 10.5bn cubic feet of natural gas. Production for the period was reduced by approximately 5,500 barrels per day as a result of deferred production related to Hurricane Ida, with approximately 80 percent of the companys production shut-in at one point due to the storm. Fortunately for W&T, its assets and infrastructure did not suffer any significant damage. This emanates from the fact that the company has operated in the Gulf of Mexico for years and has seen and dealt with many hurricanes. Hurricane Ida was the biggest weather event in the Gulf of Mexico this year. When it became clear that it was going to be coming into the Gulf and would be near our assets, we did what we always do in those situations: temporarily shut-in production, secure facilities to greatly reduce the potential of an environmental incident, and evacuate our employees and contractors. What impacted us the most was the lack of electricity onshore to refiners and processing plants who buy our production. They were down and we had to wait for them to come back online, remarked Krohn.

The company announced that its cash position at the end of the third quarter of 2021 stood at over $250m, due in large part to a creative securitisation transaction with Munich Re in May. For many years, W&T used a reserve-based lending (RBL) credit facility that was underwritten by a bank group and secured by its proved reserve base. Over the years, the market for RBL facilities has become less attractive, particularly offshore. Due to losses occasioned by commodity price downturns, many banks have exited the market. The remaining few are now offering less flexible and more onerous commercial terms, which have generally become tougher and less appealing for oil and gas companies. Krohn commented, Fortunately for W&T, one of our largest assets is our Mobile Bay complex. Those assets are long-lived and have shallow declines, which is a great profile for lenders. Using Mobile Bay as collateral, we were able to work with Munich Re to structure a first-lien secured term loan that appropriately valued the collateral at an attractive cost of capital. The transaction provided us a lot more financial flexibility and dry powder to pursue attractive acquisition opportunities and consider additional exploratory drilling. When asked about the current state of the M&A market in the Gulf of Mexico, he explained, The increase in commodity prices in the second half of 2021 has widened the bid-ask a little, making it slightly tougher at the moment. Broadly speaking however, it is a good environment for M&A. Many larger operators are rationalising their portfolios and for some of them, the Gulf is no longer a core asset. Other operators have balance sheet issues that they are trying to fix following the pandemic and a period of low commodity prices.

Though doomsayers are forecasting the end of the oil and gas industry, the industry veteran believes the industry will continue to be around for years to come. Krohn stated, Transitioning the energy mix to one that relies more heavily on renewables will take time. Natural gas in particular can play a really important role during that transition. There is no question that there will be changes, but I am confident in the ability of the people in our industry to adapt.

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W&T Offshore represents a wealth of opportunity in the Gulf - World Finance

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OVERTIME OUTDOORS: Acadiana's offshore fishermen feast on great wahoo fishing this time of the year - The Daily Iberian

Offshore wind developers face regulatory approval challenges.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced in October that to further the Biden Administrations goal of doubling offshore wind power generation in the United States by 2030, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), an agency within the Interior Department, will hold up to seven new offshore lease sales by 2025 for offshore wind projects.

But building these offshore wind farms may not be smooth sailing.

Although legislators in the United States are pushing to increase offshore wind capacity to move the country toward a clean energy system and meet global climate goals, federal environmental laws and the Interior Departments own regulations could stand in the way of coastal wind farms.

Before any offshore turbines are constructed, regulators and developers must navigate Interior Department regulations and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Under federal law, lease areas must be researched and approved before they are auctioned. Even then, construction plans must comply with federal regulations and undergo a process of seeking public comments.

BOEM has already undertaken the first step in identifying areas most suitable for offshore wind farms. Of the seven potential sites announced by Haaland, four are along the Atlantic Coast, two are along the Pacific, and one is along the Gulf of Mexico.

These sites, according to BOEM, will be auctioned off to interested developers by 2025. Once developers gaincontrol over a site, however, they will not have complete freedom to construct wind farms. Instead, they will receive an exclusive right to develop the offshore areas but only after submitting plans to the Interior Department for regulatory approval.

These plans, known as Construction and Operations Plans and Site Assessment Plans, must comply with NEPA and other federal environmental protection laws, which require submitting detailed information of how the proposed offshore facilities will affect the surrounding environment. BOEM, before approving any project, will need to subject the proposed plans to environmental and technical reviews, as well as to multiple rounds of public commenting.

A recent example of the difficulties faced by developers seeking regulatory approval is Vineyard Wind, a wind farm projected to be built off the coast of Massachusetts.

Although BOEM approved the project in May 2021, the sites regulatory approval process began in 2009 when BOEM started evaluating potential lease sites. The auction for Vineyards lease was held in 2015, the developers submitted their proposed construction plans in 2017, and BOEM submitted an environmental impact statement report in 2018. The proposal received over 3,500 comments from fishermen, agencies, and interested stakeholders.

Even after BOEM granted Vineyard Wind final approval in 2021, the project still prompted lawsuits that continue to threaten the projects survival.

For example, members of the fishing industry petitioned a federal court to review the approval and argued that the Interior Department violated NEPA and other environmental statutes.

A solar company filed a different lawsuit challenging the approval for aesthetic reasons as well as for federal statutory violations. In yet another lawsuit, Massachusetts residents challenged the approval for failing to consider the detrimental effect the project will have on whales.

The pending lawsuits against Vineyard Wind, as well as its multi-year process in reaching approval, may serve as a template for future projects. Vineyards successes or failures could affect not only the seven sites the Interior Department has earmarked, but also the dozen or so other offshore projects reportedly awaiting federal approval.

Discussing reasons for the regulatory delays, Iulia Georgiu, energy reporter for Utility Dive, has noted that one issue preventing federal approvalsand a potential solutionrevolves around staffing at BOEM. Georgiu found that, in 2020, BOEM was understaffed and lacked the resources to manage the many proposed projects awaiting approval in the queue.

President Joseph R. Biden has increased BOEMs renewable energy yearly budget by $17.4 million, totaling $45.8 million for the 2022 fiscal year. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is also providing additional scientific and technical resources to BOEM to evaluate proposals, as a result of an executive order from Biden on climate.

Whether or not this increase in funding and resources will clear BOEMs permitting backlog remains to be seen.

Nonetheless, BOEM offeredits own guidance to developers to increase the likelihood of approval. BOEM emphasized that developers, in their proposals, should highlight and outline the infrastructural, environmental, and socioeconomic benefits from their projects. Examples of these benefits include offshore wind farms generating energy near dense population centers, producing less greenhouse gas emissions relative to other power generation sources, and providing benefits to local economies.

Overcoming these regulatory hurdles may be crucial for the Biden Administrations goal to achieve a net zero economy by 2050. As Jennifer Granholm, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy, has noted, harnessing the incredible potential that exists within offshore wind energy is an essential piece of reaching a net-zero carbon future.

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Navigating Stormy Waters for Offshore Wind Development - The Regulatory Review

TotalEnergies has started power generation from the first turbine of the Yunlin offshore wind farm in Taiwan. TotalEnergies joined this project, operated by wpd, with a 23% interest in May 2021 alongside EGCO Group and a consortium of Japanese investors led by Sojitz.

The Yunlin offshore wind farm has a capacity of 640 megawatts (MW) from 80 turbines of 8 MW. Once onstream, it will produce 2.4 terawatt hours (TWh) of renewable electricity per year, enough to serve the power needs of 605,000 households.

The first turbine was commissioned and successfully connected to the grid in November, with a target to get a first batch of 9 turbines into full operation mode by end-2021, able to produce 270 GWh per year.

Considered by Taiwans authorities as a key area for the development of renewable energies, offshore wind power will contribute significantly to the objective of generating 20% of renewable electricity by 2025 while fostering the emergence of a local wind power industry.

Despite the challenges caused by the pandemic on construction activities, the combined efforts of all stakeholders, leveraging wpd and TotalEnergies expertise in offshore activities, made the start of electricity production from this offshore wind farm possiblesaid Julien Pouget Senior Vice President Renewables, TotalEnergies. This power generation, a first from offshore wind since our entry into the sector in 2019, is a new step in the development of our renewable energy footprint.

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Taiwan: Production Start-Up Of Yunlin Offshore Wind Farm - Eurasia Review

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), in consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service and affected coastal states, is developing guidance to mitigate potential impacts from offshore wind projects on commercial and recreational fisheries.

BOEM has issued a Request for Information (RFI) in order to collect knowledge from the people and organizations who know and use the areas that could be affected.

As part of this process, BOEM is hosting a series of two-hour virtual fisheries mitigation scoping dialogues in December. The Gulf of Mexico Workshop is being held on December 15 from 10 a.m. to noon CST. These workshops are intended primarily for commercial and recreational fishermen, but they are also open to the public.

The comment period closes on January 7, 2022. The comments and information received in response to this RFI will inform BOEMs development of draft guidance. Once complete, the draft guidance will be shared with the public for review and input for a 45-day comment period.

To register for a workshop, or to get additional information, including the RFI, meeting agenda, full list of meeting dates and topics, visit http://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/fishing-industry-communication-and-engagement. To submit comments, visit http://www.regulations.gov/document/BOEM-2021-0083-0001.

If you have questions about the Request for Information and/or workshops, please contact Brian Hooker (Brian.Hooker@boem.gov).

The Department of the Interiors Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is responsible for Americas offshore energy and mineral resources. The bureau promotes energy independence, environmental protection and economic development through responsible, science-based management of energy and mineral resources on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf.

NOAA Fisheries, also known as the National Marine Fisheries Service, is an office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration within the Department of Commerce. NOAA Fisheries is responsible for the stewardship of the nation's ocean resources and their habitat.

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Input from Commercial, Recreational Fishermen Wanted on Development of Offshore Wind Energy Projects - Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries

As many of New Englands industrial cities fell into decline in recent decades, the wealthier residents of Marthas Vineyard, a regional center of affluence and privilege, have gotten richer, building and rebuilding beachfront megamansions. But their good fortune has hardly benefited everyone on the island, where economic inequality has run rampant. For Michael Friedman, a 55-year-old IT engineer, rising prices driven by rich residents expanding wealth have made it harder to stay and raise his family on the tree-covered Massachusetts island where he grew up. What can you say? he says, driving past the Obama familys Vineyard property in late October. Well try to make a go of it.

Now, 15 miles off the islands coast, a new green-energy project is getting under way that many hope will begin to spread the wealth. In a matter of months, workers will begin erecting 837-ft.-tall wind turbines for Vineyard Wind, the countrys first commercial-scale offshore wind farm. When fully operational, the plant will generate 800 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 400,000 homes. More than a dozen other East Coast offshore wind projects are awaiting government approval, and the plans portend an entirely new clean-energy industrywith thousands of new, high-paying jobs to go along with it.

Workers participate in a sea survival training course at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Bourne, Mass.

Tony Luong for TIME

But theres a catch: hardly any U.S. workers have experience building and operating offshore turbines. Community organizations, unions and colleges are now filling that gap, launching training programs in a broad effort to create a new American offshore wind workforce. For organizations that have plowed considerable time and money into education programs for projects that dont yet exist, these efforts are something of a leap of faith. The same is true for the workers who are undergoing those courses, hoping that a brand-new, eager-to-hire clean-energy industry will await them on the other side.

Friedman is one of those would-be wind workers. For months hes been taking online classes for an offshore-wind-tech certification through ACE MV (Adult & Community Education Marthas Vineyard) and Bristol Community College. Hes taking the course partly for personal interest, though he says he would consider switching careers if the opportunity came up. But with Vineyard Wind more than a year and a half from producing power, hes far from certain that the work he and his fellow students are doing will result in a job. Offshore wind has been just over the horizon for decades, with endless legal battles grinding a previous Massachusetts venture, Cape Wind, to a halt in 2017. Things are likely to be different with Vineyard Windthe project is located farther offshore and hasnt faced the same intensity of local backlashbut many, like Friedman, remain skeptical. Ill believe it when I see it, he says.

Yet others are diving in. On a brisk November morning, a handful of Piledrivers Local 56 workers shivered as they floated in the ice-cold water of Buzzards Bay, Mass., for a training session. During an earlier safety lecture, one of the workers, Nick Fileccia, had made a few wisecracks. Now, after the piledrivers donned bright orange ocean survival suits and slipped off a dock into the blue-gray water, he was dead serious. Man, that water, he said after emerging from 30 minutes in the frigid bay, during which he and his classmates had to right an overturned life raft. I was all jokes until we got in that water.

Briana Palmarin climbs a ladder to simulate climbing a wind turbine.

Tony Luong for TIME

Paul Doolan floats in the water during an emergency survival course.

Tony Luong for TIME

That exercise was part of a Global Wind Organisation (GWO) training program designed to prepare millwrights, ironworkers and other tradespeople for the unique challenges involved in doing their jobs at sea. Besides seasurvival modules and classroom components, it includes portions on working at heights, first aid and fire safety. A lot of it is teaching them skills that we hope that they never have to use, says Mike Burns, director of the Center for Maritime and Professional Training at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. Practicing an emergency escape from a wind turbine is something you hope you never have to do in real life, but youre glad that youve been trained how to do it. The academy is currently one of the only places in the U.S. where workers can get this type of training, but it may soon be offered at many more locations up and down the East Coast.

Labor organizations are among the largest supporters of such programs. The Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters, for instance, is planning to upgrade a training facility in New Jersey with a windturbine mock-up, cranes and other equipment. Were in it for about $700,000, $800,000 so far, says William Sproule, the organizations executive secretary-treasurer. Meanwhile, the New York State Building & Construction Trades Council is planning to increase class sizes in existing training programs to up the number of workers it can prepare for anticipated local offshore wind projects. We are really at the very beginning, the precipice, of offshore wind on the East Coast, says union president Gary LaBarbera. And as Vineyard Wind gets under way, the Massachusetts Building Trades Council, another union, plans to set up a kind of offshore worker training pipeline, starting newer workers on the onshore portions of the project, like building electrical substations, and then moving them out to sea. Thats the way you develop a stable workforce and a skilled workforce for this industry, says union president Frank Callahan.

Meanwhile, Bristol Community College, where Friedman is currently studying, is sinking $10 million into launching what its calling the National Offshore Wind Institute. Scheduled to open in 2022, the facility will focus on training workers (rather than teaching courses for college credit) and will offer programs on other aspects of the offshore wind industry, like finance and insurance. Jennifer Menard, the colleges vice president of economic and business development, says her goal is to help replicate the economic investment that offshore wind spurred in cities like Cuxhaven in Germany and Hull in the U.K. Facilitating such a renewal, Menard says, means stepping up investments in education to fill gaps in the current U.S. workforce. I saw what offshore wind could bring, she says. It was just an opportunity that we wanted to be ready for.

Workers preparing to erect new offshore wind farms along the U.S. East Coast in the coming years are taught how to do their jobs at sea and trained in emergency survival techniques.

Tony Luong for TIME

Europe, where offshore wind is a long-established industry, may also offer an ideal training ground for U.S. workers. Orsted, a Danish offshore-wind giant, is bringing more than a dozen American workers to train at its European sites for months at a time. The idea, says Orsteds head of North America operations Mikkel Maehlisen, is to create an elite group of workers who can in turn train more Americans as the companys U.S. projectslike a planned 700megawatt wind farm off Rhode Islandget under way.

Despite this flurry of training investment, some U.S. labor leaders worry that as the country decarbonizes, an expansion of offshore wind wont provide as many jobs as its proponents hope, especially compared with the expected loss of labor-intensive fossil-fuel power-plant projects. David Langlais, business manager of Ironworkers Local 37 in Rhode Island, is particularly concerned about the fact that many offshore-windrelated jobs come from manufacturing turbine componentsan industry based largely in Europerather than erecting and maintaining such equipment offshore. Therell be a tremendous amount of hours that the American workforce will lose out on, he says.

Langlais wants offshorewind manufacturers like GE, which is supplying turbines to the Vineyard Wind project and makes many of its components in France, to produce turbines and similar gear domesticallya goal offshore-wind developers say they support. Orsted, for instance, has tapped Local 37 iron-workers to help erect a huge steel structure at the port in Providence, R.I., to be used to manufacture bases for the companys offshore turbines. And despite his reservations about offshore wind, Langlais says his union is committed to the green-energy transition.

Im not a scientist, but clearly were getting more hurricanes, were getting worse storms, its getting warmer, Langlais says. Theres obviously something to this climate change, and it has to do with carbon emissions. So we have to do the right thing.

Paul Doolan, Nick Fileccia, and Gerard Mullin during an exercise about moving heavy equipment with instructor Megan Amsler.

Tony Luong for TIME

Back on Marthas Vineyard, Miles Brucculeri, 44, is studying hard despite his doubts about future employment. Hes worked as a surfing instructor for the past two decades but isnt sure how much longer hell be able to swim the five daily miles such work requires, and hes been frustrated by a lack of local work opportunities with health benefits during the long off-season. Youre either serving rich people in this kind of fake, rich-people economy, or theres not much out here, he says. At the moment, Brucculeri is 11 months into Bristol Community Colleges two-year offshore-wind education course. By the time he finishes, Vineyard Winds offshore turbines will still be at least six months from producing power. Even after they go online, theres no guarantee hell be hired as a technician. But in order for offshore wind to take off in the U.S. as it has elsewhere in the world, more people like him will have to take the plunge. The opportunity came up, so I took it, Brucculeri says. I dont know where its gonna lead.

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Write to Alejandro de la Garza at alejandro.delagarza@time.com.

Read more:

First U.S. OffShore Wind Farm Could Help Struggling Cities - TIME

Related Practices & Jurisdictions

Monday, November 29, 2021

With the expected boom in US offshore wind construction, all participants in the process should adopt important risk management approaches to avoid problems and disputes that drive up costs and cause delays. This article highlights the important concepts of coordination among the parties and the use of an independent disputes advisor to resolve issues in real-time during construction.

The technical and logistical complexity of offshore wind projects in consideration of seabed conditions, use of support vessels, sub-sea cabling, larger components, floating platforms, and extreme weather, to name a few such factors makes such projects particularly susceptible to the risk of construction disputes.

With the preferred procurement approach in offshore wind projects being a single developer awarding multiple contracts to specialized contractors and suppliers (turbine manufacturer, cable supplier, foundation fabricator, transportation provider, installation contractor, etc.), the need for extensive interfacing among these separate contractors adds another level of complexity and risk.

Long before construction starts, when the developer is drafting contract documents for all its contractors and suppliers, the developer must recognize and address the critical importance of interfacing and coordination with and among all those parties.

The developer should prepare contract provisions and related technical requirements that address coordination, scheduling, and timely notice responsibilities across the construction and supply contracts. Doing so will promote and facilitate active and joint participation by all involved parties throughout the planning and construction stages. Such provisions should be mirrored in all the involved contracts, to the extent practical. While there may be some shifting provisions, the most important aspect is to establish the forum and the processes that will help all parties avoid and mitigate the risks of coordination problems and disputes.

Contractors should actively want to and be required to participate in coordination meetings with the developer and other contractors. The various contracts should mutually require parties to provide timely feedback on interfacing and overlapping concerns such as scope gaps, responsibility and liability matrices, and project scheduling.

Contractors should also memorialize coordination responsibilities among them in the form of interfacing or coordination agreements. Part of these coordination responsibilities should include prompt notice requirements to the developer and contractors as issues or delays arise.

As much as reasonably possible, the developer should attempt to allocate risks between the parties best capable of preparing for, assuming, and mitigating those risks. In turn, contractors should avoid assuming risks and being responsible for issues outside their control, including early project delays or supply chain disruptions.

The developer should consider appointing an independent disputes advisor to resolve contractor disputes as they arise as a means of trying to resolve issues and avoid expensive litigation.

In the event a dispute cannot be resolved by the independent advisor, the developer should ensure the formal disputes resolution procedures are aligned among the contractors, and consider including discretionary language about the developers right to consolidate disputes on a project.

Implementing these risk management approaches into your offshore wind contracts now should lead to better communication and transparency among the parties during the project and help the parties avoid expensive litigation in the future.

2021 Jones Walker LLPNational Law Review, Volume XI, Number 333

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Offshore Wind Projects and Construction Risks - The National Law Review

Project plans for floating wind off the coast of South Korea's Ulsan region are moving fast. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has granted an electricity business license (EBL) to MunmuBaram, a joint venture between Shell (80%) and CoensHexicon (20%), for the first 420MW of a planned 1.3GW floating wind project off the Ulsan coast.

Meanwhile, Ulsan Metropolitan City has signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with German developers RWE for 1.5GW and BayWa for several gigawatts.

MunmuBaram has been carrying out groundworks for its project, such as wind data measurement campaigns, since 2019. In September, it completed geotechnical and geophysical surveys. Now it has the EBL, meaning it has exclusive development rights for the project, it will move forward with an environmental impact assessment (EIA), marine traffic survey, cultural heritage inspection survey and other activities, it said.

Subject to future investment decisions, the MunmuBaram project will be developed in phases. Once fully constructed, it is expected to generate up to 4.2TWh of clean electricity a year.

YoungKyu Ju, the project director of MunmuBaram, said: Acquiring the electricity business licence is a key enabler for the MunmuBaram floating offshore wind project which could, if realised, provide renewable power to over 1 million Korean households."

Under its agreements with utility RWE and renewable energy developer BayWa, the City of Ulsan will provide support to the companies, especially during the planning and permitting phase. RWE said after consultations with the relevant authorities, associations, and local community, a feasibility study will be conducted to define its plan for floating offshore wind projects off the Ulsan coast.

For its projects, BayWar said it would also be working with Hyundai Heavy Industries, which unveiled plans for semi-submersible floating foundations for 10MW offshore wind turbines in July. It will also collaborate with Sejin Heavy Industries, as well as Korea's national energy agency and hydrogen industry association, the company added.

Earlier this month, Equinor announced an agreement to cooperate with state-owned power generation company Korean East-West Power on 3GW of floating wind. South Korea is aiming for 12GW of offshore wind by 2030.

Read more from the original source:

Floating offshore wind power makes headway in South Korea - Windpower Monthly