Canadians tout offshore strengths – reNews

The Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labradors 30-year history operating offshore oil and gas projects provides a solid foundation to support offshore wind development, according to a new supply chain study.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Environmental Industry Association (NEIA) identified home-grown strengths in several areas such as geotechnical services, health and safety, research and education, environmental engineering and consulting, ocean technologies, monitoring and modeling and legal expertise.

The association wanted to quantify the many similarities between the needs of the offshore oil and gas industry and the offshore wind energy sector, said NEIA executive director Kieran Hanley.

As the cost of renewable energy development continues to decrease, and the importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions continues to increase, we believe that new offshore wind energy projects on this side of the Atlantic Ocean are likely, said Hanley.

With the expertise we have developed through our offshore oil and gas industry, we are well-positioned to participate in those developments if we are adequately prepared, he added.

The study, carried out by Stapleton Environmental Consulting, is a preliminary survey of existing local capacity.

There are two major elements of the supply chain that are unavailable in the province and are highly unlikely to ever be sourced locally a wind turbine supplier and turbine installation vessels.

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Canadas Beothuk Energy are developing a 180MW project off the islands west coast.

The pair proposes to install Siemens turbines on gravity base foundations about 20 miles offshore in the Gulf of St Lawrence.

The next big steps for the St Georges Bay scheme will be to secure an offtake agreement and environmental approvals.

Image: reNEWS

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Canadians tout offshore strengths - reNews