Orsted raises guidance on UK offshore wind transmission divestment – Recharge

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Danish offshore wind champion Orsted has increased its full-year guidance for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) by DKr1bn ($149m) to DKr16-17bn in 2020 on updated assumptions regarding the divestment of the transmission asset for Hornsea 1.

orsted in 2019 had commissioned Hornsea 1, so far the worlds largest offshore wind farm, with a capacity of 1.2GW.

For offshore wind farms in the UK, the utility constructs and subsequently divests its transmission asset, which is a regulatory requirement and is conducted in a process led by Ofgem, the UK regulatory authority for gas and electricity markets.

Following further progress in the divestment process, we have lowered our assumption regarding the preferred bidders expected return requirement on the transmission asset, rsted said in a press release.

The implication of this is twofold. A positive NPV impact on our own share of the transmission asset, as we will be paying lower than assumed tariffs going forward, and higher profit on the 50% share of the transmission asset we divest on behalf of our partner.

The impact of the latter will be recognised in EBITDA in 2020, whereas the EBITDA impact on Orsteds own share of the asset will materialise over the lifetime of the asset, the company added.

Asked by Recharge, whether possible future impacts by the spread of the Coronavirus could impact its business performance this year, Orsted said its business so far is unaffected by the situation.

But of course we are closely monitoring the situation, and we have implemented precautionary measures in all our offices, based on the advice given by the authorities in the countries we operate in, our travel security collaboration partner, and the health and precaution guidelines issued by WHO, the company said in a statement.

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Orsted raises guidance on UK offshore wind transmission divestment - Recharge

Offshore Wind Takes Shape at Providence Innovation Hub – ecoRI news

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Videos and text by TIM FAULKNER/ecoRI News staff

PROVIDENCE A new glass-and-steel office space is less about the number jobs or the company that will occupy it and more about the industry taking root there.

Seven co-working desks at the Wexford Innovation Center on Dyer Street in the Jewelry District will soon be used by rsted U.S. Offshore Wind. The Danish company is joining seven other wind-related companies already there. And judging by the 200 or so attendees at the March 2 office opening, a nascent industry is on the verge of rapid growth.

This is a brand-new industry and it's being born right here in the state of Rhode Island. Its unbelievable, Gov. Gina Raimondo said.

Twenty-two gigawatts of wind facilities are planned for federal waters between Maine and North Carolina, and undoubtedly a lot of engineers, tradespeople, boatbuilders, and more will be needed to get the turbines built and spinning.

Other port cities such as Boston, where rsted has its co-headquarters, New Bedford, Mass., and Norfolk, Va., are vying for the title of U.S. capital of offshore wind. But these is little doubt that Providence is part of the emerging blue economy. rsted, which bought Deepwater Wind in 2018, is still using its original downtown office on Exchange Terrace, where it has already doubled its staff from 30 to 60. More will work at the innovation hub on Dyer Street, where employees from Denmark and other offices will hold meetings with offshore wind entrepreneurs.

With its sweeping view of the East Side and nearby mill buildings, the Wexford complex is prime real estate. In less than a year, some 80 businesses are occupying suites or sharing office amenities. The pubic-private venture is steps from the new riverfront park and pedestrian bridge, and with the help of state tax incentives, the new, modern office building has drawn partners such as the Cambridge Innovation Center and Brown University and its medical science programs.

Incentives have also brought in tenants such as Johnson & Johnson and seven wind-energy companies that include GEV, Boston Energy, Glosten, and Harbor Light Software.

Ladies and gentlemen, its happening, Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor said. This place is, thankfully, really humming.

Pryor quoted a state economic report showing that the offshore wind sector will create between 20,000 and 35,000 jobs along the East Coast by 2028. Rhode Island is already developing the jobs through wind companies and educational programs at the University of Rhode Island and other institutions.

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Offshore Wind Takes Shape at Providence Innovation Hub - ecoRI news

Offshore wind to ‘attract $211bn up to 2025’ – reNEWS

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Offshore wind will attract capital expenditure (Capex) of $211bn (189bn) between 2020 and 2025, according to new research by Wood Mackenzie.

The researchers said investors traditionally targeting the oil and gas sector will find offshore wind increasingly attractive, helping to drive Capex.

There is limited crossover today, but first movers have gone with the wind and more will soon follow, Wood Mackenzie said.

It said offshore wind investments offer greater certainty and transparency because deployment is largely tied to government incentives.

About 82% of the forecast offshore capacity to 2025 has been awarded a support scheme or is in more advanced stages of development, the research said.

This compares with global offshore upstream oil and gas Capex, where the current trend for short-cycle projects lowers the visibility and certainty of investment outlooks beyond 2022, it said.

Wood Mackenzie added that the offshore wind supply chain is also entering a period of transformative growth.

The number of project interfaces the supply deals associated with a project is both broadening and decreasing, while the size of projects and contracts is growing, the analysts said.

They added that project sizes and clusters of projects will increase by 63% by 2025.

To win these larger deals, smaller supply chain players are consolidated to create companies capable of capturing the larger work packages, Wood Mackenzie said.

It added that larger work packages are also attracting the larger O&G players to the offshore wind industry.

Changes in project characteristics the scale, complexity, water depth and distance from shore is also changing the way in which Capex is distributed along the value chain and intensifies requirements to equipment and production capabilities, the researchers said.

They added that offshore wind offers lower risk and lower returns and investors 'follow the money'.

But why would investors target offshore wind with single-digit returns, when most new offshore oil and gas projects are making double-digit returns? asked Wood Mackenzie.

It said: Theres more work to do to make renewables projects attractive, even economic, to the mainstream of investors.

But, any investment in the oil and gas sector is now subject to 'energy transition risk', which encompasses falling demand for oil, the potential cost of the carbon intensity of assets, and more.

Theres also a real possibility that both upstream project returns and renewables project returns will evolve, taking into account changing cost of capital, government subsidies and technology development.

In the context of the energy transition, we expect offshore wind to become an attractive low-risk investment, particularly to carbon-heavy portfolios.

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Offshore wind to 'attract $211bn up to 2025' - reNEWS

Belgian Offshore Wind Farms Smash Production Record – Offshore WIND

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Offshore wind farms in Belgium broke a record in February as they produced 804GWh of electricity, according to the Belgian Offshore Platform (BOP).

The 804GWh, measured at the Elia grid connection point, corresponds to the annual consumption of 230,000 households, at 3,500kWh per year per family.

The last reported monthly record was in December 2019 when the countrys six wind farms generated 616GWh of electricity.

According to BOP, the new record is due to a higher installed capacity, which was increased in February by 60MW, from 1556MW to1616MW.

This increase is due to the commissioning of the first turbines at the Northwester 2 offshore wind farm.

Compared to February 2019, installed capacity increased by 430MW, or 36.5%, 370MW for the Norther project and 60MW for Northwester 2.

Additionally, it was a record month in terms of wind conditions, as the average capacity factor was 74%, compared to the previous record of 70% from December 2015.

Over the last five years,the average capacity factor for February was 53%, BOP said.

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Belgian Offshore Wind Farms Smash Production Record - Offshore WIND

UK may need faster floating wind build as North Sea offshore hits the wall: officials – Recharge

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The UK may need to build floating wind farms at a faster pace and greater scale than expected as fixed-foundation offshore turbines in the North Sea start hitting more obstacles such as adverse environmental impacts, said the British government as it unveiled plans to include the fast-emerging technology in future renewable energy auctions.

Floating wind is for the first time being considered for inclusion in the next round of contract-for-difference (CfD) auctions for a government-backed power deal scheduled for 2021, either competing directly against fixed-foundation projects or in a separate pot depending on the outcome of a consultation.

The prospect of floating projects competing for CfD deals in the worlds biggest offshore wind market is a big step forward for the technology, which the UKs Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (DBEIS) said could be needed sooner than thought if fixed-bottom starts running into problems in meeting the countrys burgeoning offshore wind ambitions.

With the significantly higher levels of deployment needed to 2050 to meet [the UK's plans for] net zero it makes sense to consider the risk of cumulative impacts (environmental, radar interference, conflicting uses of the sea for example) which could increasingly affect the ability for fixed bottom wind deployment to be realised, said DBEIS.

Should such risks materialise it is likely that the commercial deployment of floating offshore wind will be needed sooner than previously anticipated and at greater levels, particularly during the 2030s.

The UK has a target for 40GW of offshore wind deployment by 2030, raised from 30GW under the sector deal agreed with the industry last year and a current installed base of 8.5GW.

But environmental challenges and local discontent about onshore works are already starting to impinge on massive projects underway off eastern England.

DBEIS said floating wind farms could help with its ability to deploy in deeper waters of 60-metres or more further from shore, and potentially open for development new areas off Scotland, Wales and southwest England that are currently outside the mainstream of UK offshore wind development in the North Sea: It may allow offshore wind generation that is decoupled from the weather patterns in the North Sea to provide some insulation against the effects of intermittency on the grid.

However, floating wind's cost-of-energy profile is still far higher than fixed-foundation projects that have driven down their prices steeply in previous UK CfD auctions.

Given the still relatively early stage of development of the floating offshore wind sector it may be necessary to consider introducing measures over the coming years to encourage early deployment and cost reduction.

This would allow larger scale deployment to begin during the 2030s without a deployment hiatus which could jeopardise maintaining our decarbonisation trajectory and at lower cost than would otherwise be possible, said DBEIS officials.

Bruno Geschier, chief sales and marketing officer at technology pioneer Ideol, and co-chair of the Floating Offshore Wind Committee recently set up by industry body World Forum Offshore Wind (WFO) said: We can see this as a positive signal that floating wind is finally being acknowledged as an important part of the future renewable energy mix, while reserving full judgement until DBEIS makes its final decisions.

WFO managing director Gunnar Herzig said: This is excellent news for floating offshore wind. The UK is ideally positioned to lead the commercial-scale rollout of floating offshore wind and should therefore support floating wind separately from bottom-fixed offshore wind.

WFOs newly created Floating Offshore Wind Committee is going to proactively support the UK and its industry in becoming a global leader in floating wind.

The UK is already home to the worlds first commercial-scale floating wind farm, Equinors 30MW Hywind Scotland, with other early-stage deployments underway off Scotland Flotation Energys market-leading 50MW Kincardine where a scout turbine was switched-on in 2018, as well as France and Portugal.

Though Europe, with over half of the total global floating wind capacity installed and expectations for some 320MW off its coasts by 2021 , is the current market pace-setter, Asian plays in Japan and Korea, as well as the US Pacific, have recently heaved into view with international-scale ambitions, with California most recently seeing set-up of a coalition that is calling on the state government to support construction of 10GW of floating wind by 2045.

Equinor set out a road map in 2017, when it brought Hywind online, which forecast 12-15GW of moored units turning by 2030 at a levellised cost of energy of 40-60/MWh ($43-55/MWh), the current price of conventional offshore wind power.

Equinor head of floating wind development Sebastian Bringsvrd told Recharge: We believe this is an important first step for floating offshore wind in the UK. It is a recognition that floating offshore wind will be needed to meet UKs net-zero target. We agree with the assessment that floating offshore wind initially should be treated differently from fixed-bottom offshore wind in the CfD allocation process.

However, while Equinor agrees that the largest floating wind roll-out will be from the 2030s, we are of the opinion that there are benefits of an early deployment of floating offshore wind (i.e. in the latter part of the 2020s) to ensure the necessary cost reduction and to capture the industrial benefits from being an early mover.

The World Bank in a recent report suggests floating wind power could swiftly take up a leading role in the energy production mix of many national markets, spotlighting markets including Brazil, India, Morocco, the Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Vietnam as having the potential to add over 2TW in the global fleet in the coming decades.

Note: Update adds quotes and details

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UK may need faster floating wind build as North Sea offshore hits the wall: officials - Recharge

Somalia agrees offshore oil exploration roadmap with Shell/Exxon: minister – Reuters

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CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Somalia has agreed an initial roadmap with a Shell/Exxon joint venture to explore and develop potential offshore oil and gas reserves, the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources said on Monday.

I am delighted we have agreed an initial roadmap with the Shell/Exxon joint venture. This gives us confidence in (the)ability to further explore any offshore hydrocarbon potential, minister Abdirashid Mohamed Ahmed said in a statement.

Last month Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo signed petroleum legislation into law to help open up a new frontier market in Africa as the strife-torn country hopes new petroleum finds will help transform its economy.

Seismic data suggests there could be significant oil reserves offshore.

In October Shell and Mobil, which had a joint venture on five offshore blocks in Somalia prior to the toppling of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in the early 1990s, agreed to pay the government $1.7 million for historic leasing of the blocks.

Exxon Mobil and Shell were not immediately available to comment.

Reporting by Wendell Roelf; editing by David Evans

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Somalia agrees offshore oil exploration roadmap with Shell/Exxon: minister - Reuters

Wind – Foundation piling operations completed at Moray East Offshore Wind Farm – Renewable Energy Magazine

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The piles were designed to contend with a complex and varied seabed geology. DEME Offshores specialist installation vessel Apollo was then brought in to carefully drive each of the 309 piles into place within strict positional and vertical tolerances. This highly precise operation was achieved through the use of innovative pile engineering and the development of a patented piling template, designed to integrate with the jack-up legs of Apollo.

DEME Offshore also developed a special underwater drilling tool to cope with hard and rocky layers and relief drilling to install the piles in these challenging conditions.

The company was supported by the services of a number of specialist UK companies, particularly those which conducted heavy fabrication works at Arnish and Methil, and those that provided onshore logistical services via facilities at Invergordon.

The second stage of offshore works will see DEME Offshores newbuild, next generation offshore installation vessel Orion integrate 103 jacket foundation structures and three topside modules with the pin piles now in place.

This major project milestone highlights our technical expertise whereby we are delivering innovative solutions for the most challenging projects in the offshore wind industry said Bart De Poorter, General Manager DEME Offshore. We would like to thank our partners and stakeholders in this project for the successful collaboration. Our teams will now fully focus on the preparation of the installation of the foundations, which will be the very first project for our giant new offshore installation vessel Orion.

For additional information:

DEME Group

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Wind - Foundation piling operations completed at Moray East Offshore Wind Farm - Renewable Energy Magazine

The Global Offshore Patrol Vessel MARKET is expected to grow by USD 4.91 bn during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of 4% during the forecast period -…

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NEW YORK, March 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --

Global Offshore Patrol Vessel Market 2020-2024The analyst has been monitoring the global offshore patrol vessel market and it is poised to grow by USD 4.91 bn during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of 4% during the forecast period. Our reports on global offshore patrol vessel market provides a holistic analysis, market size and forecast, trends, growth drivers, and challenges, as well as vendor analysis covering around 25 vendors.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p02779362/?utm_source=PRN

The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current global market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. The market is driven by increasing need to control drug trafficking.In addition, melting arctic ice increasing maritime activities is anticipated to boost the growth of the global offshore patrol vessel market as well.

Market SegmentationThe global offshore patrol vessel market is segmented as below:Product:o Basic OPVs

o High-end OPVs

Geographic Segmentation:o APAC

o Europe

o MEA

o North America

o South America

Key Trends for global offshore patrol vessel market growthThis study identifies melting arctic ice increasing maritime activities as the prime reasons driving the global offshore patrol vessel market growth during the next few years.

Prominent vendors in global offshore patrol vessel marketWe provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the global offshore patrol vessel market, including some of the vendors such as Austal Ltd., BAE Systems Plc, Damen Shipyards Group NV, Fincantieri Spa, Fr. Fassmer GmbH & Co. KG, Fr. Lrssen Werft GmbH & Co. KG, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Naval Group SA, NAVANTIA SA and Saab AB .The study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to an analysis of the key vendors.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p02779362/?utm_source=PRN

About ReportlinkerReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.

__________________________Contact Clare: clare@reportlinker.comUS: (339)-368-6001Intl: +1 339-368-6001

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The Global Offshore Patrol Vessel MARKET is expected to grow by USD 4.91 bn during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of 4% during the forecast period -...

What Is W&T Offshore’s (NYSE:WTI) P/E Ratio After Its Share Price Tanked? – Yahoo Finance

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Unfortunately for some shareholders, the W&T Offshore (NYSE:WTI) share price has dived 37% in the last thirty days. That drop has capped off a tough year for shareholders, with the share price down 52% in that time.

Assuming nothing else has changed, a lower share price makes a stock more attractive to potential buyers. In the long term, share prices tend to follow earnings per share, but in the short term prices bounce around in response to short term factors (which are not always obvious). The implication here is that long term investors have an opportunity when expectations of a company are too low. Perhaps the simplest way to get a read on investors' expectations of a business is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). Investors have optimistic expectations of companies with higher P/E ratios, compared to companies with lower P/E ratios.

View our latest analysis for W&T Offshore

We can tell from its P/E ratio of 1.85 that sentiment around W&T Offshore isn't particularly high. We can see in the image below that the average P/E (10.1) for companies in the oil and gas industry is higher than W&T Offshore's P/E.

NYSE:WTI Price Estimation Relative to Market, March 2nd 2020

Its relatively low P/E ratio indicates that W&T Offshore shareholders think it will struggle to do as well as other companies in its industry classification. Many investors like to buy stocks when the market is pessimistic about their prospects. It is arguably worth checking if insiders are buying shares, because that might imply they believe the stock is undervalued.

Generally speaking the rate of earnings growth has a profound impact on a company's P/E multiple. Earnings growth means that in the future the 'E' will be higher. Therefore, even if you pay a high multiple of earnings now, that multiple will become lower in the future. Then, a lower P/E should attract more buyers, pushing the share price up.

In the last year, W&T Offshore grew EPS like Taylor Swift grew her fan base back in 2010; the 52% gain was both fast and well deserved. The cherry on top is that the five year growth rate was an impressive 61% per year. With that kind of growth rate we would generally expect a high P/E ratio.

The 'Price' in P/E reflects the market capitalization of the company. In other words, it does not consider any debt or cash that the company may have on the balance sheet. The exact same company would hypothetically deserve a higher P/E ratio if it had a strong balance sheet, than if it had a weak one with lots of debt, because a cashed up company can spend on growth.

Spending on growth might be good or bad a few years later, but the point is that the P/E ratio does not account for the option (or lack thereof).

W&T Offshore has net debt worth a very significant 185% of its market capitalization. If you want to compare its P/E ratio to other companies, you must keep in mind that these debt levels would usually warrant a relatively low P/E.

W&T Offshore trades on a P/E ratio of 1.9, which is below the US market average of 16.5. The company has a meaningful amount of debt on the balance sheet, but that should not eclipse the solid earnings growth. If the company can continue to grow earnings, then the current P/E may be unjustifiably low. What can be absolutely certain is that the market has become more pessimistic about W&T Offshore over the last month, with the P/E ratio falling from 2.9 back then to 1.9 today. For those who prefer to invest with the flow of momentum, that might be a bad sign, but for deep value investors this stock might justify some research.

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Investors should be looking to buy stocks that the market is wrong about. As value investor Benjamin Graham famously said, 'In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run, it is a weighing machine. So this free visualization of the analyst consensus on future earnings could help you make the right decision about whether to buy, sell, or hold.

But note: W&T Offshore may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a P/E ratio below 20).

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.

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What Is W&T Offshore's (NYSE:WTI) P/E Ratio After Its Share Price Tanked? - Yahoo Finance

SalMar hopes to begin construction of ‘ultimate offshore farm’ this summer – Undercurrent News

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BERGEN, Norway -- Norways SalMar, which already has one substantial offshore pilot salmon-farming project, has plans to begin construction of its second, larger, facility this summer, according to chairman Atle Eide.

The Smart Fishfarm, a much bigger oil-rig scale offshore emplacement, will be a follow up to SalMars pilot Ocean Farm 1 project, on a scale almost twice the size.

Compared to Ocean Farm 1, this is a true offshore construction, Eide told listeners at the North Atlantic Seafood Forum in Bergen. Ocean Farm 1 could take waves up to 11 meters, but Smart Fishfarm will go 30-40km off the coast, and operate in waves up to 31m high.

And as you see, its a huge construction, 70m high, and it will hold between 3-4 million salmon, and we will produce between 17,000-20,000t of salmon in these farms. And we do hope that we will make the decision to build this farm just after the summer, we are now finalizing the design.

The center of the Smart Fishfarm will be 40 meters in diameter, and contain an area for treating sea lice and diseases should we have them.

Eide noted that the window for operations in harsh conditions is significantly smaller than in coastal aquaculture, especially in winter months, meaning specialized planning will be needed for harvesting and restocking.

Likewise, wellboats and feed vessels on a whole new scale will be necessary to service the farm, given the size of the waves expected.

This farm will be eight chambers compared to the first one which is five; and if we can solve all of these potential problems, the first harvest will be the spring of 2024. So by that time we will need to partner up with those who can offer these logistical solutions.

Likewise, cleaner fish will not be possible to use so far out to sea, so SalMar will also be testing how effectively its design prevents the build-up of sea lice.

We are paying a lot of attention to the effect of the conditions on the smolt, so we will be putting fairly large smolt to sea, Eide said. The first farm is a pilot, we will do a lot of testing and run with less intensity than we will hopefully be able to do later.

Eide told listeners that an estimated investment in the region of NOK 200 billion ($21bn) will be required to grow Norwegian offshore aquaculture to its full potential in the next three decades.

The goal, Eide said, was to grow Norwegian aquacultures total production to five million metric tons of salmon by 2050, but production growth had slowed in the past few years as the industry is held back by salmon escapes and sea lice issues, slowing the approval of new farming licenses.

However, Eide noted that currently, only 0.03% of Norways coastline is used for aquaculture, and growing from current production levels of 1.35 million metric tons to 5m metric tons would still only require less than 0.1% of Norwegian coastal space.

Enormous investments would be required to achieve this growth, not seen since the heyday of the oil and gas industry, Eide told listeners. We should exploit the huge offshore areas available; if 70% of the growth comes from offshore from 2030, the industry will need to invest over NOK 200bn in offshore production.

By growing to that 5m metric ton figure, Eide also believes the industry would create up to 127,000 new jobs, employing workers taken from Norways declining oil and gas trade.

And then, in addition, we need a whole new generation of wellboats and feedboats, plus more capacity in operations and maintenance.

But he warned that this growth is only going to be possible if the industry proves it can resolve its disease issues, allowing for the high-intensity offshore farming that SalMar and many other farmers desire.

Thats why were encouraging all companies that are working on those issues, and Im convinced by the competence within the industry that these issues will be solved, Eide said. The message from the government is quite clear: if you do not solve these issues you will not be allowed to grow.

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SalMar hopes to begin construction of 'ultimate offshore farm' this summer - Undercurrent News

Another giant jack-up vessel to target Japanese offshore wind installations – Recharge

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Plans were unveiled for another giant jack-up vessel for turbine installation as the specialist supply chain needed to support Japans offshore wind ambitions took another step forward.

Contractors PaxOcean Group and Penta-Ocean Construction said the vessel, with a 1,600-tonne crane, a 3,800 sq metre deck and designed by GustoMSC, will be completed in Q3 2022.

Japan is ramping up for significant offshore wind build-out over the next decade, with vessels bearing the countrys flag needed to complete major projects from 2022 onwards.

Japanese energy group JERA earlier this year linked with contracting and engineering specialist Shimizu itself building a major offshore wind installation vessel for possible collaboration at home and abroad, while shipping group NYK and Dutch contractor Van Oord plan to jointly own and operate Japanese-flagged vessels.

Japans parliament in 2019 passed legislation clearing the way for first offshore wind tenders to take place this year to underpin long-term development of the sector, while the government has set a 10GW wind target (onshore and offshore combined) for 2030.

MHI Vestas on Tuesday revealed it had won the OEM sectors first turbine order for a utility-scale offshore wind farm in Japan.

Recharge reported today how total investment in offshore wind power projects in Asia Pacific (APAC) came in at almost double that in Europe in 2019, as the fast-moving emerging market eclipsed the sectors historic heartland for the first time, according to new research from the Renewables Consulting Group (RCG).

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Another giant jack-up vessel to target Japanese offshore wind installations - Recharge

Developer to Open Hub to Grow U.S. Offshore Wind Industry – The New York Times

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. An offshore wind developer is opening a hub in Providence that its executives hope will help accelerate the takeoff of the industry in the United States.

rsted U.S. Offshore Wind, a division of the Denmark-based rsted, will launch its U.S. innovation hub in Providence on Monday. rsted employees will meet at the hub with U.S.-based startups and small companies to discuss early-stage technologies to address issues the industry faces.

rsted could potentially help these companies bring solutions to the market faster to help accelerate and scale the U.S. industry, said Thomas Nygaard Hamann, rsted's head of strategy, digital and innovation.

In essence, a lot of this is really about taking the global know-how that we bring on this industry and connecting that to novel innovation in the U.S., said Hamann, who is based in Copenhagen.

rsted is looking for ways to better monitor the movements of whales near wind farms, and ideas for reducing noise when turbines are installed, for example, Hamann said. Last year, to ensure that its technicians could safely transfer between small boats and offshore wind turbines, rsted signed a deal to invest in the Scottish company Pict Offshore, which had developed a hoist system.

rsted bought Providence-based Deepwater Wind in 2018. Deepwater Wind began operating the first U.S. offshore wind farm off of Block Island, Rhode Island, in late 2016. The U.S. operations for rsted are jointly headquartered in Providence and Boston.

Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo said the hub's opening further cements the state's "status as America's offshore wind capital." Several offshore wind and renewable energy companies have offices in Providence. The state offers tax credits and incentives to lure more of these businesses to Rhode Island, and launched a program in 2018 to train students for offshore wind industry jobs.

It's my hope that this will just keep building on itself, and over time you're going to see, in Rhode Island, more supply chain companies to service the offshore wind farm, more energy storage companies, more undersea mapping technologies, Raimondo said in an interview this week. It's a whole ecosystem and it's starting to build right here.

rsted has federal lease areas in the Northeast and in the mid-Atlantic, where a total of six wind farms are in development. The Northeast wind farms are joint ventures with Eversource.

Driving down the pricing for offshore wind has been, and will continue to be, an important driver of innovation, said Matthew Morrissey, head of Northeast markets for rsted. But, he added, they're looking to evolve every aspect of their business to improve the standardization, safety and overall operation of wind farms, as well as create jobs locally.

The hub will serve as the first point of contact for U.S. companies interested in contracting with rsted. Morrissey said the goal is to make it easy for companies to make a pitch, get clear information and perhaps contracts.

The Danish parent company employs about 6,500 people and reported revenue for the group at 9.1 billion euros (nearly $9.9 billion) in 2019.

rsted considered locating the hub in Boston or Cambridge, but Morrissey said Providence was the clear choice. He noted that many people work in offshore wind or related industries in Rhode Island and that the state is a pioneer in maritime innovation.

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Developer to Open Hub to Grow U.S. Offshore Wind Industry - The New York Times

Subsea 7 to engineer Murphy’s deepwater Gulf of Mexico tiebacks – Offshore Oil and Gas Magazine

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Offshore operations are expected to start in 2021.

(Courtesy Subsea 7)

Offshore staff

LUXEMBOURG Murphy Exploration and Production Co. - USA has contracted Subsea 7 to provide the subsea installation services for the Samurai and Khaleesi/Mormont developments in the Green Canyon area of the Gulf of Mexico.

This contract covers the tieback of seven subsea wells to the Kings Quay FPS that will be moored about 175 mi (282 km) south of New Orleans.

The project scope includes engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and commissioning of all subsea equipment including PLETs, PLEMs, umbilicals and distribution hardware, production and export flowlines and jumpers, as well as the wet tow in the Gulf of Mexico to the fields and mooring system installation of the semisubmersible FPS.

Project management and engineering will start immediately at its offices in Houston. Fabrication of the flowlines and risers will take place at the companys spoolbase in Ingleside, Texas, with offshore operations occurring in 2021.

Craig Broussard, vice president for Subsea 7 US, said: Subsea 7 will provide a single point contract for the SURF and mooring work scopes on this project, which allows for improved management of the interface risk.

03/03/2020

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Subsea 7 to engineer Murphy's deepwater Gulf of Mexico tiebacks - Offshore Oil and Gas Magazine

Maersk Discoverer to drill one-well contract in Egypt – Offshore Technology

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]]> The Maersk Discoverer semi-submersible rig is contracted for drilling an Egyptian well. Credit: Maersk Drilling.

Denmark-based Maersk Drilling has secured a one-well drilling contract for the Maersk Discoverer offshore Egypt, worth $3.8m.

The contract will start this month, lasting 21 days. The semi-submersible rig Maersk Discoverer will carry out operations.

According to the drilling rig operator, the contract is a direct continuation of the rigs current contract.

Maersk Drilling COO Morten Kelstrup said: Were pleased to add this additional well, which firms up Maersk Discoverers schedule for 2020, meaning that the rig will have no idle time before moving to the Caribbean later this year.

When it completes drilling of the additional Egyptian well, the rig will perform its scheduled Special Periodic Survey (SPS). This involves detailed structural investigation and various inspections to the rig. The rig will then move to Trinidad and Tobago.

Delivered in 2009, the Maersk Discoverer is a DSS-21 self-propelled A1 column-stabilised, dynamically positioned deep-water rig. Maersk Drilling received three DSS-21 rigs from Keppel FELS, of which the Discoverer is the second.

The rig can operate in water depths of up to 10,000ft and can drill to a maximum depth of 32,800ft. It features a 15,000psi blowout prevention (BOP) system, dual pipe handling system and Favelle Favco deck crane.

It also features a 3.5t pipe handling knuckle boom crane, four Wirth 14-P-2200 7500psi triplex mud pumps, and can accommodate 180 people.

In January this year, Aker BP awarded a two-well contract extension to Maersk for its Integrator ultra-harsh environment jack-up rig.

In November last year, the company secured a one-well contract for the ultra-harsh environment jack-up rig Maersk Interceptor.

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Offshore Wind Power for 3 Million NJ Homes by 2035 Is Murphys Aim – NJ Spotlight

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Schedule calls for next 1,200-MW offshore wind solicitation to be opened by this September, with an award made by the second quarter of 2021.

By 2035, New Jersey will have enough offshore wind turbines to power more than 3 million homes in the state and provide at least half of the electricity it needs.

At least that is the aggressive schedule the Murphy administration laid out last week to hold offshore wind solicitations every other year, from the third quarter of 2020 until the beginning of 2028.

If successful, the state will put in place 7,500 megawatts of offshore wind capacity, a goal Gov. Phil Murphy announced last November in an executive order to hit that target in just 15 years.

By announcing this planned solicitation schedule, we are demonstrating to our partners in industry and labor that we are committed to implementing this project in a thoughtful way that ensures economic growth for New Jersey, Murphy said in a press release his office issued Friday.

rsted operates the only offshore wind farm in the United States, a relatively small project three miles off Block Island in Rhode Island. The company also has rights to develop a 1,100-MW offshore wind farm about 15 miles off Atlantic City as the winner of New Jerseys first solicitation last year.

New Jersey opened the largest single-state solicitation. [rsted] is building a supply chain that will support projects up and down the east coast and is poised to double our offshore wind capacity, said New Jersey Board of Public Utilities president Joseph Fiordaliso.

The proposed schedule calls for the next 1,200-MW solicitation to be opened by this September, with an award made by the second quarter of 2021. Setting a solicitation schedule through 2035 provides a crucial level of certainty for developers, original equipment manufacturers and the supply chain.

So far, however, the economic benefits of developing a robust supply chain a goal of states up and down the Eastern Seaboard have yet to materialize in New Jersey. But an aggressive commitment to offshore wind is evident by the new schedule the governor laid out, according to clean energy advocates.

This is really important, said Doug OMalley, director of Environment New Jersey. Its putting a calendar to the aspirations of the Governors goals. Theres no other state in the nation who has a solicitation locked in over the next decade or so.

To be responsive to the evolving market, the schedule has been developed to provide flexibility in terms of the amount being procured with each solicitation and the exact timeline, according to the Governors Office.

It cited a number of factors that could influence the timing and quantity to be procured, including transmission solutions and development schedule, the status of additional lease areas, permitting, port readiness, establishment of a supply chain, workforce training and cost trends.

The last factor is probably one of the biggest challenges, with much of the cost of offshore wind, grid modernization and a new way of financing solar projects likely to fall upon utility customers, who will mostly shoulder the burden of financing the clean energy transformation.

rsted, which won the states first offshore wind project, is projected to have it in commercial operation by 2024. According to the projected schedule, it will take at least five years from awarding of contracts to build the offshore wind farm.

Another issue the state faces is a proposal from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that would increase costs for cleaner energy, such as solar and offshore wind, under regulatory changes the agency is considering. Earlier this year, Fiordaliso warned the proposal could harm many of the states clean energy initiatives.

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Offshore Wind Power for 3 Million NJ Homes by 2035 Is Murphys Aim - NJ Spotlight

Eni to redeploy wave power system in the Adriatic Sea – Offshore Oil and Gas Magazine

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The PB3 PowerBuoy integrates patented technologies in hydrodynamics, electronics, energy conversion, and computer control systems to extract the natural energy in ocean waves.

(Courtesy Ocean Power Technologies Inc.)

Offshore staff

MONROE TOWNSHIP, New Jersey Eni has extended its lease of Ocean Power Technologies Inc.s PB3 PowerBuoy for an additional 18 months.

Following more than one year of continuous maintenance-free operation as part of an AUV charging pilot project offshore Italy in the Adriatic Sea, the leased PB3 PowerBuoy will be redeployed to provide power to systems on an unmanned, decommissioned gas production platform.

The offshore platform conversion project is exploring the potential of future ecologically sustainable life-extension strategies for oil and gas platforms at the end of their productive phase. The project will assess the value of the platform to the ecosystem if left in place, as well as the viability of integrated aquaculture farming, recreational, and other uses.

The system will be relocated off Italys Abruzzo region coastline in July 2020.

Deployed in December 2018, the PB3 PowerBuoy has demonstrated its capability as a charging and communications platform to enable the long-term remote operation of Enis Clean Sea AUV, the company said. Since being deployed it has produced more than two megawatt hours (2 MWh) of electricity.

03/03/2020

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Offshore oil and gas accidents and fatalities increase amid regulatory rollbacks – NOLA.com

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While President Donald Trump's administration was working to relax offshore drilling regulations, there was a spike in offshore accidents and a decrease in safety inspections, according an analysis by the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcementthe federal agency tasked with regulating offshore drillinghas not yet released a tally of offshore incident statistics for 2019. But the Center for American Progress dug through the agency'sbudget documents to find thenumber of injuries per hour worked on oil and gas facilities on the federal Outer Continental Shelf.

American Progress found that the rateof injuries increased 21% in 2018 and 2019 compared with the previous two-year period of 2016 and 2017.The data includes injuries that require medical treatment beyond first aid. It excludes those stemming from natural causes, illness or that are self-inflicted, according to the budget documents.

"At worst, this is an unraveling of safety gains made after Deepwater Horizon," the catastrophic BP spill of 2010, saidMatt Lee-Ashley,a senior fellow at American Progress.

Last month, theWall Street Journal reportedthat BSEE Director Scott Angelle a former Louisiana state official and 2015 gubernatorial candidate asked his staff to make changes to the Well Control Rule, a new protocol imposed after the 2010 disaster aimed at reducingthe likelihood of a recurrence. Angelle's changes were meant to cut down on the cost of compliance for the energy industry, and he made them despite advice from BSEE engineers that the changes were unsafe.

The rate of offshore injuries was trending downward between 2015 and 2017. But there was a sharp uptick in accidents in 2018. The injury rate is calculated based on the number of injuries per 200,000 hours worked, which includes operator and contractor hours worked for production, construction and drilling operations on the Outer Continental Shelf, an area that includes the Gulf of Mexico.

While there were fewer accidents in 2019 than in 2018, the incidents in 2019 may have been more serious. In February, the BSEE reported that there was one fatality in 2018. While the agency has not released the number of fatalities in 2019, local media reports indicate there were at least nine offshore oil worker deaths, according to an analysis by The Times-Picayune. That would mean at least 8% of the injuries reported in 2019 were fatalities.

Last March, a helicopter destined for an offshore platform crashed near Galliano. A pilot and a Houma-area oilfield worker were on board. Neither survived.

In April, anAbbeville man fell off a platform in the Gulf of Mexico. A 24-hour search ensued, but he was never found.

In May and June, four people died after falling from three different offshore platform decks. The BSEE sent out a safety alert in early June after the first two deaths.

In December,Panther Helicopters Inc., based in Belle Chasse,reported that one of its helicopters did not reach its destination to an offshore platform. A search for the two people on board was eventually suspended.

The number of offshore worker fatalities in 2019 is more than the previous five years combined. From 2014 to 2017, the BSEE reported one fatality in each fiscal year.

"If this pattern of tragedies and accidents isn't a wake-up call to Director Angelle and the Interior Department, I don't know what is,"Lee-Ashley said."By weakening safety rules and cutting back on enforcement, the Trump administration is gambling with peoples' lives and with the health of the Gulf Coast. It's reckless, wrong and there needs to be an immediate reckoning."

In 2017, Trump issued an executive order directing the BSEE to reexamine the Well Control Rule. The order also directed the bureau to find ways to encourage energy exploration and production on the Outer Continental Shelf an area that extends more than 200 miles offshore -- and to reduce unnecessary regulation without sacrificing safety or environmental protection.

Among the changes to the Well Control Rule were the removal of certain requirements for real-time monitoring of offshore operations by onshore engineers; an extension of the date by which blowout preventers must comply with certain requirements; and an avenue for companies to more easily obtain waivers from meeting the minimum "safe drilling margin," a measure designed to reduce the risk of sudden changes in well pressure that could cause a blowout. The changes went into effect in September of 2018 and May 2019.

In addition to a recent increase in offshore injuries, American Progress found a decrease in the number of trips to offshore facilities for inspections and a decline in enforcement actions against offshore oil and gas operators. BSEE conducted nearly 2,000 fewer visits to offshore facilities for inspections between 2017 and 2019 than the previous three-year period, according to agency data, a decline of 13%. Over the same time period, enforcement actions against offshore oil and gas operators dropped by 38%.

The BSEE responded to the American Progress findings by saying that while the number of inspection visits has decreased, the number of inspections per visit has increased. A drop in the number of visits to facilities can, in part, be explained by a decrease in the number of active offshore facilities, according to the agency. "BSEE views an increase in total inspections conducted coupled with a decrease in enforcement actions within a specified time frame, which is what occurred in 2017 and 2018, as an increase in compliance," said BSEE spokeswoman Karla Marshall.

The BSEE expects to release the incident statistics for 2019 by the end of March, Marshall said. The Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association declined to answer questions for this story, instead issuing a prepared statement.

The safety of our operations, our workers and our community is a top priority for Louisianas oil and natural gas industry, and thanks to new initiatives and technologies our offshore energy industry has never been safer or stronger," said LMOGA President Tyler Gray. "Industry standards, modern technology, innovation and experience working under the oversight of state and federal officials have made offshore development safer than it has ever been and continuously becoming safer because technologies are ever-improving.

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Offshore oil and gas accidents and fatalities increase amid regulatory rollbacks - NOLA.com

Iv-Offshore & Energy Joins IJmuiden Ver Grid Connection Team – Offshore WIND

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TenneT TSO B.V. and Iv-Offshore & Energy B.V. have signed a contract for the Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) of the first 525kV offshore grid connection.

The FEED is part of the development of a new standard design for two 2GW network connections to the IJmuiden Ver wind farms.

The two High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) platforms located in the Dutch North Sea will be the first HVDC platforms in the world to be based on 525kV.

Approximately 160 wind turbines are expected to be connected to each platform.

The platform design from Iv-Offshore & Energy will contribute to a new standard for the future 2GW HVDC platforms from TenneT.

The large capacity and the fact that this offshore technology has never been applied before is what makes this project unique. During the entire design process, trade-offs will be made with regard to the lowest Levelized Costs of Energy (LCOE) and improving nature (nature inclusive design), the company said.

In addition to social cost benefits, it is also the intention that the natural world can benefit from this project, too. Environmental measures have been integrated as basic conditions in the design criteria of the HVDC platforms.

Ultimately, a design that keeps the social costs of sustainable electricity affordable, whilst at the same time contributing to the enhancement of the natural environment must be brought to the table. For example, the possibility of constructing a fish hotel is being investigated.

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Offshore wind vessel named after sci-fi writer – ShipInsight

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Bernhard Schulte's latest offshore wind newbuild an Ulstein SX195 built by Ulstein Verft, will be named Windea Jules Verne. The vessels name is after one of the world's most popular science fiction adventure writers, who was born in Nantes where GEs Offshore Wind business is located. The vessel will work for GE at the Merkur wind farm.

The hull of the 93.4m vessel was built at the Crist Shipyard in Poland before it was floated out in September 2019 and towed to the Ulstein yard in Norway for the final outfitting.

Its design is modified to fulfil the GE Renewable Energy tender requirements and the ship owners special choices of mission equipment.

Windea Jules Verne has a large, centrally positioned walk to work motion compensated gangway and elevator tower for personnel and cargo transfers. It also features a 3D compensated crane capable of 2-tonne cargo lifts. The optimised on-board logistics includes large storage capacities, of which half is under roof in a controlled environment, and stepless approach to the offshore installations. The vessel is equipped with a fuel-efficient drive system including battery solution. With all main equipment and operations in the aft ship, the vessel will normally operate astern while in-field. Keeping the X-STERN towards the weather, there will be no slamming, noise or vibrations caused by the waves.

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Russian tourists rescued after blown offshore on inflatable rings – The Phuket News

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PHUKET: Two Russian women on holiday in Phuket were rescued some three kilometres from Karon Beach yesterday afternoon (Mar 2) after the women were blown offshore on pink inflatable rings at Freedom Beach earlier in the day.

The two women were rescued floating on the inflatable rings some three kilometres offshore from Karon. Photo: Karon Marine Safety Center

Kittisak Intharuang of Karon Municipalitys Marine Safety Center told The Phuket News that he was notified of the womens predicament at 2:30pm after a tour guide at Freedom Beach raised the alarm with local Tourist Police.

Officers from the Marine Safety Center together with lifeguards launched a search for the two women, who Kittisak identified only as Mariia, 25, and Ksenia, 27.

It took around one hour, but they found the two tourists in the sea about three kilometres from shore, Mr Kittisak said.

They were safely brought back to the beach, and Tourist Police took them to their hotel in Patong, he added.

Mr Kittisak urged all beachgoers to be wary of drifting too far from shore while playing on inflatables at the beach.

If youre not careful, the wind can blow you too far to get back to the beach by yourself, he said.

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Russian tourists rescued after blown offshore on inflatable rings - The Phuket News