Daily Archives: June 2, 2021

When U.S. President Joe Biden's administration approved the countrys first major offshore wind farm this month, it billed the move as the start of a new clean energy industry that by the end of the decade will create over 75,000 U.S. jobs.

Industry executives and analysts do not contest that claim, but they make a clarification: For the first several years at least, most of the manufacturing jobs stemming from the U.S. offshore wind industry will be in Europe.

Offshore wind project developers plan to ship massive blades, towers and other components for at least the initial wave of U.S. projects from factories in France, Spain and elsewhere before potentially opening up manufacturing plants on U.S. shores, according to Reuters interviews with executives from three of the worlds leading wind turbine makers.

That is because suppliers need to see a deep pipeline of approved U.S. projects, along with a clear set of regulatory incentives like federal and state tax breaks, before committing to siting and building new American factories, they say a process that could take years.

"For the first projects, it's probably necessary" to ship across the Atlantic, said Martin Gerhardt, head of offshore wind product management at Siemens Gamesa (SGREN.MC), the global offshore wind market leader in a comment typical of the group.

That underscores an uncomfortable truth for the Biden administration as it seeks to show political opponents that a transition away from fossil fuels to fight climate change can be good for the economy: many of the clean energy jobs he aims to create to offset losses in drilling and mining may not materialize until well after his time in the White House ends.

The administration has unveiled a goal to install 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind power capacity in U.S. waters by 2030 roughly the amount that already exists in Europes two-decade old industry a plan that it estimates will create 77,000 U.S.-based jobs while combating global climate change.

More than 2,000 turbines will be needed to meet the 30-GW target, according to Shashi Barla, an analyst at consultancy Wood Mackenzie. But U.S.-based factories probably will not materialize until 2024 or 2025, he said.

After that, Barla said he expects the U.S. supply chain to develop rapidly and to make around 70% of major components for the industry by 2030.

A White House official did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A FACTORY IN EVERY STATE

This month, Washington took a big step toward its goal of launching the offshore wind industry by approving the Vineyard Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts, jointly owned by Avangrid Inc (AGR.N) and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. read more

That project, the first major offshore wind farm to get federal approval in the United States after more than a decade of stops and starts, is expected to produce enough electricity to power 400,000 homes in New England by 2023.

Vineyard Wind alone will create 3,600 U.S. jobs, according to company officials, though most of the projects components will be manufactured in Europe due to the lack of an existing domestic supply chain.

U.S. company General Electric's (GE.N)renewable division, GE Renewable Energy, will supply Vineyard Wind with 62 turbines. The major parts for those turbines, which are twice the height of the Statue of Liberty, including rotor blades and gear boxes, will be made in its factories in France.

Iberdrola (IBE.MC), Avangrids Spanish parent company, says the contract to make the turbine foundations, meanwhile, will create around 400 jobs at the Windar Renovables factory in Spain.

Several other U.S. offshore wind project proposals have also been preparing orders from companies like GE and Siemens Gamesa, but they are awaiting federal regulatory approval before moving forward.

The manufacturers told Reuters they need those orders to become solid and reliable before contemplating investments in a U.S.-based supply chain for offshore wind.

Opening a factory is costly and time-consuming: they require permits and large amounts of space near the coast, said Christy Guthman, GE Renewables commercial leader of U.S. offshore.

"We definitely want to maximize our local content wherever possible, but we need to have that sustained volume year over year to look at potential investments in the U.S," Guthman said.

Developers also need to navigate complex state-level demands on the industry, as governors compete to ensure that any future factories supplying the offshore wind industry are built within their borders.

New Jersey, for example, has asked bidders on its offshore wind supply contracts to specify how they will help the state become an industry hub, while a recent New York solicitation said investments that create sustainable in-state jobs would be given preference.

"We cannot have a factory in every state, that is not economic," Siemens Gamesa Chief Executive Andreas Nauen said in an interview.

Nauens company is still deliberating over whether to open a specialized facility on the East Coast to service a proposed project for Dominion Energy (D.N) in Virginia, having been named preferred supplier back in January 2020.

Siemens Gamesa, GE and Vestas (VWS.CO) already produce parts for smaller, onshore turbines in the United States, but locations including landlocked Kansas, Iowa, North Dakota and Colorado put them too far from the windy coasts to be of much use for larger offshore pieces.

Orsted (ORSTED.CO) and Equinor (EQNR.OL), meanwhile, have said they plan to open manufacturing for some parts to service U.S. offshore projects they have proposed, though many major parts would likely still be derived from established plants in Europe.

POLITICAL TURBULENCE

Suppliers have reason to be cautious. Clean energy expansion in the United States relies heavily on political will which can shift from administration to administration.

Federal incentives for renewable energy projects have expired or experienced eleventh-hour extensions in Congress multiple times over the last decade. Bidens predecessor, Donald Trump, meanwhile, had cancelled Vineyard Wind's permit application during his term, throwing the entire industry into doubt until Biden revived the process.

That turbulence resounded in the supply chain. Vineyard Wind initially chose Vestas as its turbine supplier in 2018, but that contract expired as federal permitting dragged on.

The Biden White House has said it is aware that suppliers need airtight commitments to make investments in local manufacturing, and points out the administration has pledged $3 billion in public financing for offshore wind and transmission developers and component suppliers. It will also fund $230 million of port infrastructure projects to help encourage the industry.

The U.S. International Trade Commission, meanwhile, has imposed tariffs on imported wind towers from certain countries including Spain. While the move came at the request of two domestic producers of towers for the U.S. onshore wind industry, the tariffs would apply to offshore towers as well, increasing the economic incentive to open U.S. factories.

"We know that we need to create greater certainty for offshore wind projects," U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Director Amanda Lefton said on a call with reporters on May 11.

Lefton has also acknowledged that competing state demands could be an obstacle for the industry.

"There's been this healthy competition among states for who is the most aggressive," Lefton said in an interview with Reuters. "But we stand to gain a lot more now by... rowing in the same direction on establishing the supply chain here."

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Read this article:

Headwinds: Offshore wind will take time to carry factory jobs to U.S. - Reuters

Norwegian company Caera has acquired its compatriot Energy Innovation as it plans to set up a skilled personnel base at the Egersund Energy Hub as part of the offshore wind supply chain in Norway.

Caera is a supplier of skilled professionals in electrical and mechanical sciences, and Energy Innovation is an education and certification center.

Both companies have a letter of intent signed with theNorseman Wind consortium,which recently announced its plans to apply for a license to build a 1.4 GW offshore wind project in Norway.

Egersund Energy Hub is intended as an operation and maintenance (O&M) base for the project, which Caera sees as well positioned to contribute to developing a complete supplier industry for offshore wind in Norway.

We see great opportunities for business development of operation and maintenance services, technical education and HSE certification in wind power and other renewable energy, said Robert Norum, Chairman of the Board of Caera.

We need to readjust.The best way to carry out the restructuring is by building a bridge from our solid petro-maritime industry to the expertise we need.We will develop a new domestic market for the development, operation and maintenance of the offshore wind projects at Srlige Nordsj II and Utsira Nord, said Frank Emil Moen, CEO of Energy Innovation.

Last year, Norway opened two zones for offshore wind and launched a pre-application period for them this January. As the developers announce their applications for acerage at the two areas Utsira Nord and Srlige Nordsj II the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy is working on the licensing process for the projects that will be built there.

Read the original here:

Norwegian Company Positioning for Upcoming Offshore Wind Projects - Offshore WIND

Dutch energy major Shell has awarded the Australian engineering company Worley a services contract to support the development of a new 200 MW electrolysis-based hydrogen plant in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

The new plant will be powered by renewable energy from an offshore wind farm that is currently in development, Worley said.

Once complete, the green hydrogen plant will be one of the largest commercial green hydrogen production facilities in the world.

Operations are scheduled to start by 2023 and are estimated to produce 50,000 60,000 kilograms of green hydrogen per day.

The green hydrogen produced will initially be used to decarbonize Shells nearby refinery in Pernis and support the industrial use of hydrogen in the heavy transportation industry.

Under the contract, Worley will provide early engineering services for the green hydrogen plant including integration with other assets such as offshore wind, pipelines, electrical grids, and Shells Pernis refinery.

The services will be executed from Worleys offices in The Hague, with support from Worleys global hydrogen subject-matter experts and Global Integrated Delivery team in India.

As an Australian company operating globally, we are pleased to be working with Shell on this first-of-itskind project. We look forward to supporting Shells strategy to be a provider of net-zero emissions energy products and this project is an example of how Worley can help our customers achieve their goals and own purpose of delivering a more sustainable world, said Chris Ashton, Chief Executive Officer of Worley.

Shell is currently developing the 759 MW Hollandse Kust Noord wind farm offshore the Netherlands through the CrossWind consortium with Eneco.

CrossWind plans to have Hollandse Kust (noord) operational in 2023 and generating at least 3.3 TWh per year.

The wind farm is located some 18.5 kilometres off the Dutch west coast and will comprise 69 Siemens Gamesa 11 MW turbines.

Last year, the CrossWind consortium said that the electricity generated at the wind farm will be used to power the 200 MW electrolysis plant on the Tweede Maasvlakte as part of the NortH2 project.

See the article here:

Shell Adds Worley to Offshore Wind-to-Hydrogen Project Team - Offshore WIND

Californias coast may be the site of the West Coasts first installment of offshore wind infrastructure following an announcement by the Biden administration this week.

The administration said the Department of Interior (DOI), Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Department of Defense (DOD) have agreed to lease 399 square miles off the northern coast of California for Wind Energy Area (WEA) development.

The state may be in need of more energy resources in a few years as Gov. Gavin Newsom has called a ban on new hydraulic fracturing permits by January 2024. The states offshore waters are said to be prospective for up to 4.6 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind.

DOI, working with DOD and the state, has identified the Morro Bay 399 Area as one site that could support 3 GW of offshore wind on 399 square miles northwest of the bay. DOI is also investigating Northern Californias Humboldt Call Area as a possible wind farm location.

Following environmental analyses and government-to-government tribal consultations, the areas may be merged in a proposed sale notice for one lease sale auction, projected for mid-2022.

[Climate Check: Tune into NGIs Hub & Flow podcast about President Bidens climate commitments and how that might affect the U.S. natural gas industry.]

Not only would the California WEA additions advance efforts toward the administrations 30 GW goal, but according to DOI Secretary Deb Haaland, they have the potential to create tens of thousands of good paying union jobs.

In late March, Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm announced a national goal to get 30 GW of offshore wind online by 2030. The ambitious project has the potential to generate around 77,000 jobs and electricity for more than 10 million homes, according to DOE.

The announcement also spurred DOEs National Offshore Wind Research and Development (R&D) Consortium to grant 15 projects a total of $8 million for offshore wind support structure innovation, U.S. supply chain development, electrical systems innovation, and solutions for impacts on wildlife and radar.

While East Coast turbines can be attached to the seafloor, deep Pacific waters require floating turbines, a relatively new technology. Madrid-based Esteycos evolved spar concrete substructure for floating offshore wind design was one of the 15 projects awarded by the National Offshore Wind R&D Consortium.

The wind energy target added on to President Bidens Executive Order in January that called for a government-wide approach to tackle the climate crisis.

Earlier this month, the administration approved the nations first large-scale offshore wind farm, which is to consist of up to 84 turbines that would be sited 12 nautical miles from the coasts of Marthas Vineyard and Nantucket, MA.

The Vineyard Wind project is the first of several massive offshore wind proposals that aim to construct more than 3,000 wind turbines from Maine to North Carolina. An additional 13 wind farm projects are under federal review to be processed by 2025 as part of the administrations offshore wind targets.

See the rest here:

Biden Administration Looks to Northern California's Offshore to Site More Wind Energy Projects - Natural Gas Intelligence

Bureau Veritas, a world leader in testing, inspection and certification, has been selected to undertake project certification for the Moray West offshore wind farm in Scotland one of the UKs most important offshore windfarm projects.

The project aims to be fully operational by 2024, with a lifespan of 25 years. Under the plan, up to 85 wind turbines are being built, as well as two offshore substation platforms and offshore export cable circuits. The Moray West offshore wind farm has a grid connection capacity of 860 MW. Export cables running a total of 65 km in length will transport the wind farms generated power beneath the seabed to a landfall location east of Sandend Bay on the Aberdeenshire Coast.

Bureau Veritas will be providing independent verification and will deliver full project certification including design review, manufacturing surveillance, transport and installation surveillance, and commissioning surveillance.

Adam Morrison, Project Director, Moray West, said: As Moray West continues to develop in terms of engineering design, and as we prepare for the construction phase starting in 2022, subject to securing a Contracts for Difference, we welcome Bureau Veritas, which will perform important certification services on the project. We are particularly pleased that this work will be delivered by skilled engineers at the UK offices of Bureau Veritas. This expands our support for UK suppliers and provides a sustainable domestic supply chain for the growing offshore wind sector.

Laurent Louail, Executive Vice-President, CIF* South & West Europe, Bureau Veritas, commented: As a key player in the energy transition, we support our clients in their efforts to implement sustainable resources such as offshore wind to bring about a more sustainable world. In this context, we are proud to contribute to the UKs ambitious plan to achieve net zero carbon emissions. Through our BV Green Line of Renewables services and solutions, we look forward to helping Moray West sustainably design, build and operate its assets.

Bureau Veritas is present at key stages of the renewable and alternative energy production chain. Over the last two decades, Bureau Veritas has dedicated significant efforts to developing one-stop-shop solutions related to renewable energies: from design verification of offshore wind farms, to supply chain quality assurance for solar photovoltaic panels, alongside project and construction management support for onshore wind developments.Source: Bureau Veritas

Go here to see the original:

Bureau Veritas named partner to certify UKs iconic Moray West offshore wind farm - Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide

June 1, 2021

Credit: bphoto/AdobeStock

Testing, inspection, and certification firm Bureau Veritas has been selected to carry out project certification for the Moray West offshore wind farm in Scotland.

The offshore wind farm is expected to be fully operational by 2024, with up to 85 wind turbines installed and two offshore substation platforms.

The Moray West offshore wind farm has a grid connection capacity of 860 MW. Export cables running a total of 65 km in length will transport the wind farms generated power beneath the seabed to a landfall location east of Sandend Bay on the Aberdeenshire Coast.

Under the contract, Bureau Veritas will be providing independent verification and will deliver full project certification including design review, manufacturing surveillance, transport and installation surveillance, and commissioning surveillance.

Adam Morrison,Project Director, Moray West, said: "As Moray West continues to develop in terms of engineering design, and as we prepare for the construction phase starting in 2022, subject to securing a Contracts for Difference, we welcome Bureau Veritas, which will perform important certification services on the project. We are particularly pleased that this work will be delivered by skilled engineers at the UK offices of Bureau Veritas. This expands our support for UK suppliers and provides a sustainable domestic supply chain for the growing offshore wind sector.

Laurent Louail, Executive Vice-President, CIF* South & West Europe, Bureau Veritas, said: "As a key player in the energy transition, we support our clients in their efforts to implement sustainable resources such as offshore wind to bring about a more sustainable world. In this context, we are proud to contribute to the UKs ambitious plan to achieve net-zero carbon emissions. Through our BV Green Line of Renewables services and solutions, we look forward to helping Moray West sustainably design, build and operate its assets.

Read the original post:

Bureau Veritas to Certify Moray West Offshore Wind Farm - Offshore Engineer

Upwards of 172,000 more people will need to be trained to GWO standards over the next five years to meet the global offshore wind power market demand in line with health and safety standards, a new report has found.

These workers will need to be trained to construct, install, operate and maintain the worlds growing offshore wind fleet, representing only a fraction of the job opportunities available in the growing wind industry, the report states.

The report, The Global Wind Workforce Outlook 2021-2025, was released by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and Global Wind Organisation (GWO) in partnership with the Renewables Consulting Group (RCG).

This workforce will be needed for the build-out of 90.1 GW of new offshore wind capacity in the next five years globally, according to the report.

Overall, onshore and offshore wind will need over 480,000 more people trained to GWO standards to meet the demand.

Currently, the GWO training market, considered the global standard for wind workforce training, has the capacity to support the training needs of 150,000 workers by the end of 2021 and 200,000 by the end of 2022.

But analysis in The Global Wind Workforce Outlook 2021-2025 finds that at least 280,000 more trained workers will be needed to install the forecast 490 GW of new wind power capacity coming online over the next five years.

Over 70 per cent of the new global workforce training demand will come from the 10 markets analysed in the report, including: Brazil, China, Japan, India, Mexico, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, United States of America, and Vietnam.

The markets analysed in the report were selected for regional diversity, as well as spanning the largest onshore wind markets globally, high-growth markets for onshore and offshore wind, and emerging wind markets.

Ben Backwell, CEO at GWEC said: The wind industry needs to scale up at an unprecedented rate over the next decade to put the world on track to meet net zero. If ambition is scaled up to what it needs to be three or four times current market forecasts the workforce training requirements will be far higher than what was found in this report. To meet this challenge, we need to prepare now for the workforce of the future, and this means training hundreds of thousands of workers across the world to be part of one of the fastest-growing industries. But we need to ensure this workforce is trained to the highest global standards to ensure the health and safety of all.

For already large wind markets like the US and China, scaling up training capacity can provide new job opportunities and increase productivity through the recognition of GWO standards.

Emerging economies will need to develop their safety and technical training networks from the ground up to ensure alignment with global safety systems to ensure the long-term sustainability of the industry.

There is a lot of talk about how many GWs of wind power we will need to achieve net zero, but there isnt a lot of discussion about the workforce we will need to realise the ambitions on the ground, Jakob Lau Holst, CEO at GWO, said.

Hundreds of thousands of people across the world, even throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, work on the turbines that power our economies and protect our planet, and it is crucial that we keep these people safe. Having GWO safety training standards is one of the most efficient ways to make sure our workforce is staying safe and that we have the people we need to accelerate the global energy transition.

Overall, there is significant untapped potential for the training and industrial education supply chain in countries across the world, and organisations in scope to deliver the additional training capacity needed can develop GWO programmes now to meet this future demand, the report states.

Ed Maxwell, Principal at the Renewables Consulting Group, said: By combining historic training data, onshore and offshore installation capacity forecasts, key market insights and our in-depth understanding of health and safety in the global wind industry, we have been able to accurately model the future demand for GWO-trained personnel over the next five years a critical period in the path to net zero. The model and the presented forecasts will be regularly refined as more data becomes available and as the pace of capacity growth accelerates.

Follow this link:

Offshore Wind Will Need Over 172,000 More GWO-Trained People by 2025 - Report - Offshore WIND

Transmission system operator TenneT has issued a notice for a turnkey contract covering the cable system needed to connect the BorWin6 offshore platform to the German grid.

With the 930 MW BorWin6 project, TenneT is planning a direct current connection in the North Sea Cluster 7.

Scheduled to be commissioned by 2027, the BorWin6 offshore grid connection will collect the three-phase current generated at an offshore wind farm to be selected in the 2022 auction round.

The three-phase current will then be converted into the direct current on the BorWin kappa offshore converter platform and transported to the mainland in Bsum via an export cable approximately 189 kilometres in length.

From there, the electricity is to be transported to the BUTL grid connection point near Bttel via an approximately 46-kilometre underground cable.

The content of this tender is the turnkey and ready-to-use construction of the entire DC cable system required for this, TenneT said.

The cable system consists of two DC single conductor submarine cables, two DC single conductor land cables, optical fibers, sleeves, and cable terminations.

In addition, the scope of delivery and performance of the cable system includes its design, manufacture, delivery, construction, installation and commissioning as well as all systems, ancillary systems and components that are required for safe and highly available operation of the cable system.

The tender remains open until 14 July. The contract will have a duration of 64 months.

The rest is here:

Cable Connection Needed for German Offshore Platform - Offshore WIND

This images shows wind turbines in the North Sea, off the coast of Belgium.

Westend61 | Westend61 | Getty Images

Energy major Equinor said Wednesday it was working with RWE Renewables and Hydro REIN on an application for the development of a "large-scale" offshore wind farm in the Norwegian North Sea.

According to a statement, the companies will work together on submitting a proposal to authorities in Norway for the facility, which would be located in an area known as Srlige Nordsj II.

Pal Eitrheim, Equinor's executive vice president for new energy solutions, described the North Sea as having "among the world's best wind resources."

"A large-scale offshore wind farm at Srlige Nordsj II could play a key role in expanding the North Sea as an offshore energy hub and create new industrial opportunities for Norway as an energy nation," he added.

Formerly known as Statoil, Equinor's biggest shareholder is the Norwegian state. A significant player in the oil and gas industry, the company has also sought to diversify its portfolio to include renewables.

Among other things, it is a key backer of the Dogger Bank Wind Farm, a major offshore wind project off the coast of northeast England.

In June 2020, Norwegian authorities opened up two areas in the North Sea the aforementioned Srlige Nordsj II and another called Utsira Nord for the development of offshore renewables.

In practice, this allows interested parties to put forward license applications for renewable energy projects. The opening up came into effect on Jan. 1, 2021.

Together, Srlige Nordsj II and Utsira Nord "allow for the development" of 4,500 megawatts of wind power, according to Norway's government. Equinor, RWE and Hydro REIN, a subsidiary of industrial firm Hydro, did not disclose the size of their project in Wednesday's announcement.

While it has a long association with oil and gas that looks set to continue for the foreseeable future, the North Sea is also becoming a hub for offshore wind.

As well as projects like Dogger Bank Wind Farm, it's already home to major offshore wind facilities such as the 174 turbine, 1.2 gigawatt Hornsea One.

Danish energy firm Orsted says Hornsea One covers an area of around 407 square kilometers and is able to power "well over one million UK homes."

On Tuesday, port operator Forth Ports announced plans for a "renewable energy hub" at the Port of Leith in Scotland.

The proposed hub, which would be backed by 40 million ($56.55 million) of private investment, is slated to cover 175 acres if built.

According to those behind the project, it would offer a "riverside marine berth capable of accommodating the world's largest offshore wind installation vessels."

In a statement accompanying the announcement, Charles Hammond, chief executive of Forth Ports, listed a number of factors which made the project an attractive one.

He said: "Leith's proximity to the North Sea, which is set to become home to many more offshore wind developments, coupled with the natural deep waters of the Firth of Forth, makes this an ideal location to support not only those developments already planned, but the pipeline of projects that are sure to follow."

Read the original:

European energy giants team up to develop large-scale offshore wind project in North Sea - CNBC

Power industry observers were optimistic about prospects for the US to meet its bold target of 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030 but permitting hurdles and potential supply chain obstacles were common threads of concern during Reuters' US offshore wind conference May 26.

Receive daily email alerts, subscriber notes & personalize your experience.

Federal and state policy seem to have aligned on the importance of offshore wind to US energy and climate goals at a time that industry and public support are also favoring the technology, Xizhou Zhou, vice president and global managing director, global power and renewables, at IHS Markit, said. "But we also cannot ignore the challenges that lie ahead."

Among those are a fairly complex regulatory approval process that has caused frustration among some pioneering project developers and the lack of a dedicated supply chain, Zhou said. He also noted the need for more coordination and investment in transmission as well as port and Jones Act vessel restrictions that could hamper US offshore wind development.

Ruth Perry, a business environment adviser at Shell, said a major obstacle to offshore wind development was the lack of predictability created by the current regulatory process. And Joshua Bennett, vice president of offshore wind at Dominion Energy, flagged five areas in which the US would need to improve upon if it wanted to build a supply chain capable of meeting the demand of building 30 GW by 2030.

"The offshore wind industry at present is very policy- and target-driven, as the economics compared with other forms of renewables is not competitive in most US locations," Manan Ahuja, S&P Global Platts Analytics' manager of North American power analytics, said in an email May 26. "Also, we have seen in recent experience that it is not easy to site and get approvals for offshore wind construction and related transmission needed."

Platts Analytics' latest long-term forecast, published prior to the recent offshore wind announcements for California, expects 13 GW of offshore wind to be built by 2030 in the US Lower-48, incorporating commitments made by various states.

"We have to get better, both industry and government, at really setting expectations in terms of the permitting process," Shell's Perry said. "Unfortunately, we're having to build the plane as we fly it a bit, and we have to get better at doing that."

Doing so will require "enabling technologies, refocusing how we look at consultations and permits and [figuring out] what can we do to make those efforts more efficient," she said.

Further, "as that plane is being built, ... we need to have the next team on the ground that's building the second, more technologically advanced model, and that's where we really look at [the Department of Energy]."

DOE, for instance, could be starting to address concerns and challenges surrounding floating wind turbines so hesitations are eliminated and permitting processes are more efficient by the time that technology is ready for commercial scale, Perry said.

"I think if we can make some improvements but also really build our coordination and collaboration, we will see innovation in the government processes and we'll see efficiencies in the regulatory reform," she said.

Zhou suggested that it was important to remember that the US' offshore wind aspirations were not happening in a bubble. Globally, about 35 GW of installed offshore wind capacity exists today, with about 285 GW of offshore wind projects in the pipeline, according to IHS Markit's latest data.

About 70% of existing offshore wind capacity is located in Europe, Zhou said. And the US, with 33 GW of proposed offshore wind projects, accounts for about 11% of the global total of project proposals, as a number of European countries, China, Japan, Vietnam, South Korea and Brazil also have plans for significant offshore wind capacity growth.

"On one hand, global-scale collaboration can help spur technological progress and then reduce costs for everybody, and we've seen that in the onshore wind, solar industries and many other sectors," Zhou said. "But on the flip side, there could also be times when there are limitations and bottlenecks in that supply chain. And when that happens, developers will have to compete with each other."

Because projects around the world are already competing for the same equipment manufacturers, engineering and construction capacity, "US developers will need to pay attention to what's happening in the global marketplace to make a judgment about how to pace project development and supply chain buildout in this country," Zhou said.

Still, he said IHS Markit was "relatively optimistic" about offshore wind's future in the US and expected the Biden administration's medium-term goals in 2030 and 2035 would "largely be met." Beyond that, IHS Markit's long-term outlook put US offshore wind at more than 60 GW by midcentury, Zhou said.

Asked about building a US supply chain, Dominion's Bennett pointed to project certainty among the necessary steps.

"Now that the projects are moving along in the permitting process, it's sending a very clear message to industry to finance, design and build and manufacture capacity to support the growth of the offshore wind industry," he said.

Bennet also asserted a need to form partnerships with existing companies with experience in the sector and potentially European counterparts looking to expand into the US market, as well as to form business alliances across the different areas of the supply chain, from shipbuilding to import services, to foster regional growth.

Port infrastructure development, including upgrades to manage load density and marshaling space requirements and increase the capacity and efficiency of the port, and reviving manufacturing tax credits would also be important, he said.

See the original post here:

Permitting, supply chain issues flagged as US charts offshore wind expansion - S&P Global