Monthly Archives: February 2021

UK engineering and consultancy outfits Apollo and Vekta Group have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to offer a combined service to the offshore wind and energy sectors.

The new combined service offering brings commercial, project management, yield modelling, power, electrical, mechanical, structural and marine experience to support offshore wind developers with technical advice and also provide expertise in the area of electrification of oil and gas assets.

Apollo marine and renewables director Nigel Robinson said: Apollo and Vekta Group quickly realised that there was a natural synergy between our respective engineering and consultancy services, that would benefit clients across the energy sector.

Wind developers can access to a unique owners engineer service model, supporting a broad range of expertise through a single contract point.

Meanwhile the integrated offering further supports the drive of operator businesses to reduce their carbon footprints and to qualify the electrification of assets.

The companies have decided to join forces in response to the increase in the demand for engineering and development services, with Round 4 and Scotwind leasing rounds in the offing and the net zero targets of the hydrocarbon sector.

Vekta Group director Charles Balderston said: We believe that great collaboration is the key to finding positive ways to respond to the climate emergency and to reach net zero as quick as possible.

By working with Apollo, we strengthen our shared ambition to play a significant role in the energy transition process.

With our combined experience and capability, we aim to offer high value and agile services to the oil and gas sector as well as offshore wind developers.

RenewableUK director of strategic communications Luke Clark said: "It's great to see our member companies Apollo and Vekta Group teaming up to provide valuable services across the energy sector including offshore wind.

Many companies are successfully making the transition from fossil fuels to renewables, bringing experts with decades of experience in oil and gas to work in new roles, including innovative initiatives like powering oil and gas platforms with clean electricity from our world-leading offshore wind farms.

Read the original post:

Consultancy duo team up to bolster offshore wind support - reNEWS

A-6 development schematic.

(Courtesy Woodside Energy)

Offshore staff

SINGAPORE Myanmars military coup could impact planned upstream offshore investments, according to Wood Mackenzie and Maplecroft.

Wood Mackenzie research associate Saloni Kapoor said: We estimate that new upstream projects worth US$2 billion up until 2030 are yet to take final investment decision

Key developments such as PTTEPs Block M9 (Zawtika) and Woodsides Block A-6 account for around 40% of the countrys expected supply until 2030.

Incremental phases at Zawtika will provide upside to Myanmars energy mix, but if A-6 does not progress as planned, an estimated 2 tcf of gas supply is threatened. This supply is critical to make up for declining volumes from legacy fields.

Wood Mackenzie consulting director Mangesh Patankar added: Several LNG regas projects in Myanmar, including the existing small-scale terminal operated by CNTIC VPower and the proposed large-scale integrated LNG-to-Power project at Mee Laung Gyaing, are Chinese led.

We see less impact on these projects from the recent military coup, given China has always engaged with both the military and the Aung San Suu Kyi-led government.

Maplecroft senior analyst Kaho Yu said: We expect the US to restrict foreign assistance to Myanmar and impose new sanctions on those involved in the coup, particularly military officials and associated entities. Yet, additional sanctions will likely have limited impact because many relevant individuals and entities were already sanctioned by the Trump administration in 2019 over the Rohingya crisis.

Instead, any new sanctions would make it harder for responsible companies adhering to international best practice to keep operating in Myanmar due to reputational and ESG considerations.

Chinas response reflects that it is taking a wait and see approach towards the coup. Beijing has adopted a pragmatic approach towards Myanmar for decades and has been engaging both with the military and the Aung San Suu Kyi-led government. For Beijing, it does not matter who rules Myanmar, as long as those in power are not anti-China.

02/04/2021

Follow this link:

Myanmar coup may force offshore project reassessments - Offshore Oil and Gas Magazine

Announced today (4 February), the joint industry initiative delivered by the Carbon Trust's flagship Offshore Wind Accelerator project will monitor real offshore conditions to gauge the effect of blockages at a global scale.

Led by RWE Renewables, the Global Blockage Effect in Offshore Wind (OWA Globe)project will spend 3.9 million to produce a comprehensive dataset that can be used as the industry benchmark for assessing and quantifying the impact of the blockage effect on energy production.

The refers to the way the wind flows around any obstacle it encounters, which may affect the predicted outout of wind turbines ifnot all aspects have been taken into account.

Richard Sandford, director of offshore wind development in Europe at RWE Renewables, said the offshore wind industry would benefit immensely from the data collected in the project.

By appraising and testing various industry hypotheses under live conditions, we will be able to close existing knowledge gaps and reach an industry-wide consensus on the effect," he said in a statement.

OWA Globe can increase certainty in offshore wind energy yield estimates and thereby help lower the Levelized Cost of Energy.

The blockage effect is a phenomenon that occurs as a complex interaction between the atmosphere and wind as it flows through, over and around, large offshore wind farms.

As wind approaches an obstacle the blockage its flow slows down and diverts around it hence the blockage effect. The effect is subtle, difficult to measure and hard to extract from previous data sets, creating uncertainties in current models.

While there is a broad industry consensus that wind-farm-scale blockage effects cause decelerations in front of offshore wind farms (which reduces the energy yield), different opinions exist on how to consider its downstream impacts and how to account for the redistribution of energy.

The new research will be conducted at the Heligoland wind farm cluster in the German Bight consisting of the 295MW Nordsee Ost Nordsee Ost (295MW) Offshorenorth of Helgoland, Germany, Europe Click to see full details and 303MW Amrumbank West Amrumbank West (303MW) Offshorenorth of Helgoland and west of Amrum, Germany, Europe Click to see full details wind farms, which are both owned by RWE.

The two wind farms are separated by a strip of empty sea approximately 4km wide, known as the Kaskasi gap, where RWE will construct the 342MW Kaskasi Kaskasi (342MW) Offshoreoff Heligoland, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, Europe Click to see full details wind farm, anticipated to be commissioned in 2022.

Using dual-doppler scanning light detection and ranging (Lidar) measurements alongside turbine production data, the project is designed to assess blockage effects at full-scale and observe the atmospheric phenomena that drive it.

The project consortium currently includes of six additional wind farm developers: EDF Renewables, EnBW, Equinor, ScottishPower Renewables, Shell and Vattenfall, along with research and industry partners DTU Wind Energy and Leosphere.

More here:

Offshore wind industry commits 3.9m to researching blockage effects - Windpower Monthly

05 Feb 2021byDavid Foxwell

Rystad Energy says installed offshore wind capacity is set to surge in 2021. It expects installed capacity to increase by 11.8 GW this year, which is a 37% increase compared to the 31.9 GW of capacity that had been installed by the end of 2020

China will continue to lead new capacity additions, contributing 63% of expected growth.

After 2021, China will begin phasing out feed-in-tariffs and many developers are therefore pushing to complete projects by then.

Rystad Energy said that, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, global installed offshore wind capacity rose by 15% in 2020, to 31.9 GW, from 27.7 GW at the end of 2019. China was the main contributor in 2020, accounting for 39% of last additions, followed by the Netherlands (18%) and the UK (17%).

Rystad Energy offshore wind product manager Alexander Fltre said, China had a construction backlog of more than 10 GW going into 2020. Chinese developers are racing to install more turbines by the end of 2021 in order to claim full feed-in-tariffs.

This means 2021 is going to see major capacity additions, particularly since some projects initially scheduled for commissioning in 2020 ended up slipping into 2021.

Like China, Europe and the US also saw some delays in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, offshore wind developers continued to make final investment decisions for projects.

In 2020, the UK sanctioned more than 4.7 GW of offshore wind and the Netherlands more than 2.2 GW.

In H2 2020, almost 25 GW of capacity was added to the global backlog. Currently, Brazil has no operational offshore wind capacity, but its backlog grew significantly in 2020 as the country added more than 15 GW to the drawing board.

In addition, other countries in the Asia Pacific apart from China are preparing for a ground-breaking year, including Taiwan and Vietnam.

Continued here:

Offshore wind capacity to increase by more than a third in 2021 - Riviera Maritime Media

Photo: Matthew Eisman (Getty Images)

If New York doesnt meet its renewable energy goals over the next few years, some billionaires might be to blame. A group of well-heeled Hamptons property owners filed a lawsuit this week seeking to block a key piece of infrastructure needed to construct a large wind farm off the coast of Long Island.

The Citizens for the Preservation of Wainscotts suit alleges that the town of East Hamptons board rushed ahead with plans to install a cable along a small beach and town roads in the hamlet of Wainscott. The cable would connect the proposed South Fork Wind Farm owned by Danish company rsted to the grid. Its one of five offshore wind projects New York is pursuing to help meet its target of 70% renewable energy in the next decade.

At first glance, the lawsuit reads like a normal grassroots manifesto against an evil corporation and greedy politicians. The group affirms its support for renewable energy, but cites concerns about beach erosion and the health impacts the project may have on residents. It alleges that the town was eager to get the $29 million in payments from rsted, which group members have repeatedly referred to as a hedge fund-created company, and did not sufficiently consider alternate routes.

Digging into the groups members and supporters, however, throws this vilification of profit into an ironic light. One of the groups founders is Alex Edlich, a senior partner at consulting giant McKinsey, while billionaire Ronald Lauder, who donated $1 million last fall to target Senate Democrats in New York, is also involved. Lauders familyof Este Lauder moneymoved a centuries-old log cabin from Virginia onto one of their properties in the Hamptons.

G/O Media may get a commission

Signatories on some of the groups petitions include Daniel Neidich, a former business partner of Trump treasury secretary and former hedge fund guy Steven Mnuchin; financial services giant Blackstones top lawyer John Finley (who was a major contributor to various GOP PACs last year); and Faith Popcorn, a well-known futurist who runs a predictive marketing firm (her current predictions include 25% of marriages will be between humans and bots by 2025).

Most of these signers own at least one property in Wainscott, a hamlet where homes are just a smidge out of the price range of most Americans. To give you an idea of the property values, theres a single-family home along the road where the cable would be installed currently listed for sale at $49.5 million that comes with a pool, expansive gym with sauna and steam room, golf simulator, and whatever the hell a Crestron controlled environment augmented by Lutron is.

The group has spent more than $300,000 to retain a public affairs firm in Manhattan to represent it, and, as Politico reported, spent more than $28,000 on a Truth About rsted campaign on Facebook in 2019. A multibillion-dollar corporation is set to make MILLIONS of dollars off of the South Fork wind farm project on the backs of hard-working New Yorkers like you, the campaigns website reads.

All this money is being spent for something that, in the grand scheme of infrastructure projects, seems pretty minimal. The contentious cable in question is like an extension cord running from the planned wind farm offshore, Willett Kempton, a professor of marine science and policy at the University of Delaware, said.

Its just a wire to connect the source of electricity, the offshore wind farm, to substations, where power goes, Kempton added.

He said that the biggest environmental concerns with wind farm projects occur offshore, where turbine installation can have impacts on marine mammals and birds, and that onshore cable installation is akin to a routine construction project.

The lawsuit and petitions circulated by the group cite concerns over the health impacts of the cable and its installation, including electromagnetic fields and violent energy releases in manholes. But Kempton pointed out that the cable will likely be buried at least 6 feet underground and encased in a protective barrier.

The idea that [electromagnetic fields] is some kind of risk...Frankly, its stupid, he said. If [electricity] wasnt benign, youd be dead from using your cell phone as much as you do.

And honestly, that seems like a pretty weird thing for a group that includes a person who anticipates a quarter of us will be boning robots to worry about.

For us, we cant believe that theyre really upset over a cable, Citizens Campaign for the Environments executive director Adrienne Esposito said. Nobody who buys a house says, excuse me, are there any cables in the road? Because the answer is always yes.

Citizens Campaign for the Environment is one of several national and local conservation and environmental groups who have voiced support for the wind farms construction. Esposito said that she has been dealing with the Citizens for the Preservation of Wainscott for years during the review process.

Theres a hell of a lot of wind off the U.S. coasts that we canand definitely shouldbe using. The Department of Energy has estimated that the U.S. has up to 2,000 gigawatts of offshore wind potential, an enormous reserve that could help the country more easily transition to 100% renewable energy. Weirdly, theres only one operating offshore wind farm in the U.S.but states are teaming up with developers in hopes of creating green jobs and more renewable energy.

The South Fork Wind project has had a rigorous public input review, Esposito said. [Citizens for the Preservation of Wainscott] have made their presence known, as they should and as they have a right to, at every single [meeting]. Theyve had the same opportunities the rest of us have had. I think because theyre so wealthy, they get confused and think that they should have special conditions or something.

In a press release sent to Earther, Citizens for the Preservation of Wainscott Chairwoman Gouri Edlich said the town appeased the developer and put Wainscott at risk in the process.

We all support renewable energy, and we want to see that goal completed, Edlich said. But there are better ways to accomplish this important goal.

Wealthy NIMBYs have played a role in killing clean energy projects around the country. Cape Wind, a project off Massachusetts Cape Cod, got delayed more than a decade and ultimately scrapped thanks to suits from wealthy residents with oceanfront properties (including the late Sen. Ted Kennedy). Solar projects in Californias deserts have faced serious opposition and roadblocks from residents wary of industrialization. On the flip side, polluting fossil fuel infrastructure is often near low-income communities of color, many of which lack the resources to fight back.

Lawsuits like this can have a major impact on the speed of wind projects getting installed, Kempton said. Its really frustrating to see people blocking solutions to climate change based on incorrect information that really has no factual basis, he said.

Esposito said that attorneys in her coalition dont believe the lawsuit will be a major roadblock to the South Fork Wind project. But, she said, I never underestimate the power of billionaires.

Original post:

Rich Hamptons Residents Scared of 'Violent Energy Releases' From Offshore Wind Farm Cable - Gizmodo

RWE has said adjusted EBITDA for its offshore winddivision has increased by 11% to 1069m,compared with the pro forma result for previous year.

The boardattributed the rise in its preliminary results to very good wind conditions in the first quarter of 2020.

Adjusted EBITDA foronshore wind and solar improvedby 7% to 472m, compared to pro forma result 2019.

This was mainly due to new assets taken into operation.

Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the commissioning of some plants has been delayed, in particular in the US.

Furthermore, wind conditions in the fourth quarter were particularly weak.

Overall, RWE expects adjusted EBITDA totop 3.2bn and adjusted EBIT to be 1.8bn.

Chief financial officer Markus Krebber said: "Due to a very good operational performance, we expect an excellent result for fiscal 2020, which exceeds our guidance significantly.

"This is mainly driven by an extraordinarily strong performance of Supply & Trading.

"We have also expanded our portfolio in wind and solar power plants, thus delivering on our growth strategy.

"In times like this when we globally and personally might face challenges from the Covid-19 pandemic, I am more than grateful for the commitment of our employees and their outstanding dedication.

"We confirm our dividend target of 0.85 per share for fiscal 2020 and we will propose this to our Annual General Meeting on 28 April 2021, which will be held virtually."

All figures are preliminary, with the final figures for fiscal 2020 to be released on 16 March 2021.

Read the original:

RWE forecasts 11% rise in offshore wind profits - reNEWS

February 3, 2021

Peterjohn Chisholm / Adobe Stock

The Biden administration said on Wednesday it would restart permitting for the first major U.S. offshore wind farm, reversing a Trump administration decision that canceled the process late last year.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) said in a statement it would resume environmental review of the Vineyard Wind project as part of the administration's broad plan to speed renewable energy development on federal lands and waters.

"BOEM is committed to conducting a robust and timely review of the proposed project," Director Amanda Lefton said in the statement.

In December, Vineyard Wind requested a pause in the federal permitting process while it determined whether changes to its design were necessary because of a switch in turbine manufacturers, prompting BOEM to terminate its entire review.

Former President Donald Trump had promised to support the nascent U.S. industry as part of his energy dominance agenda, but the permitting of Vineyard Wind was delayed repeatedly in part due to concerns its turbines would interfere with commercial fishing.

Vineyard Wind is a joint venture between Avangrid Inc , a unit of Spain's Iberdrola, and Denmark's Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. The project is 15 miles (24 km) off the coast of Massachusetts. Once constructed, it is expected to provide power to more than 400,000 Massachusetts homes.

A Vineyard Wind official was not immediately available for comment.

(Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Leslie Adler and Peter Cooney)

More:

BOEM to Restart Permitting for Major US Offshore Wind Project - Offshore Engineer

Indian corporates are rushing to tap the offshore bond market to raise debt with the market also opening up to high-yield or junk bond issuers.

In just over a month in 2021, Indian firms have raised $3.3 billion by issuing bonds to overseas investors, showed data from financial markets data provider Refinitiv.

View Full Image

Private firms such as Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd, Continuum Green Energy Ltd and state-run entities such as SBI, Export Import Bank of India and Power Finance Corp. have mobilized funds through the offshore debt capital market this year. Others such as UltraTech Cement Ltd, ReNew Power Pvt. Ltd and IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd are also planning to use the route in the coming weeks.

This year has opened on a positive note for the offshore bond market, with an oversubscribed bond issuance by Exim Bank followed by other private and public players," said Ravi Dubey, a partner at law firm IndusLaw.

From an issuer perspective, there is a clear advantage of lower interest rates in the offshore bond market. Some of the issuers are tapping the offshore bond market to repay their higher-priced loans. For others, these bonds provide an additional avenue for debt financing, especially where domestic lenders have hit their group limits," he said.

India Inc. began 2020 with a flurry of offshore bond sales but this came to a halt due to covid which spooked the debt capital market, making it more expensive for firms to raise capital. Still, they managed to raise $13.9 billion in 2020, though the number was significantly lower than the $21.4 billion raised in 2019, data showed.

According to industry experts, while the pandemic had made it difficult for lower-rated firms or so-called high-yield issuers, the market has opened up for such issuers too in recent months.

Fundamentally, what you have is a market which was until now not open for crossover or high-yield kind of issuers. The market has now opened for these issuers. Hence, people are now looking to take advantage of this opportunity," said Shantanu Sahai, managing director and head of debt at Nomura India.

Right now, we are seeing a very distinct flavour in the set of companies that are tapping the market. There are a bunch of renewable or ESG-related companies that are going out and issuing bonds. The second category which is now becoming active is manufacturing sector companies," he said.

IndusLaws Dubey said leading players in the banking and finance sector will continue to tap the offshore bond markets, particularly in light of budget announcements.

To be sure, while borrowing costs are lower overseas, the differential may not be much once all costs of offshore borrowing are considered, especially for lower-rated companies.

While borrowing costs are low overseas, for a lot of the issuers it is not necessarily cheaper compared to rates in India. On the margins, it is probably more expensive to issue offshore, because when you add the withholding tax, hedging costs, rating and listing costs, in aggregate, the cost comes out to be a little more expensive than in India," said Sahai. But it is a good way for companies to diversify their sources of funds."

Subscribe to Mint Newsletters

* Enter a valid email

* Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.

Read this article:

Indian companies go on an offshore bond binge - Mint