Monthly Archives: May 2022

The 150 GW of offshore wind capacity pledged to be reached by 2050 by Belgium, Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands under the Esbjerg Declaration, signed yesterday (18 May) at the North Sea Summit, will contribute to large-scale onshore and offshore production of green hydrogen, one of the focal points of the European Commissions REPowerEUstrategy, also launched yesterday.

In an effort to strengthen Europes energy security and cut its reliance on Russian fossil fuels well before 2030, the EU plans to focus heavily on (green) hydrogen, faster deployment of renewable projects, rooftop solar and heatpump obligations, and making LNG its transition fuel.

The four EU countries that vowed to bring at least 65 GW of offshore wind by 2030 and 150 GW by 2050 said they had set combined green hydrogen targets of about 20 GW production capacity by 2030, and are looking to expand this even further for 2050.

The recent geopolitical events will accelerate our efforts to reduce fossil fuel consumption and promote the deployment of renewable energy for more energy resilience in Europe. Therefore, we will increasingly replace fossil fuels, including Russian oil, coal and gas, with European renewable energy from the North Sea, including offshore wind and green hydrogen, contributing to both EU climate neutrality and energy security, the Esbjerg Declaration reads.

One of the main short-term action plans of REPowerEU is the approval of first EU-wide hydrogen projects by the summer, along with rapid roll-out of solar and wind energy projects combined with renewable hydrogen deployment to save around 50 bcm of gas imports.

In the medium term, the EU plans to increase its renewable energy target for 2030 from 40 per cent to 45 per cent, enable faster permitting of renewables, set up a hydrogen accelerator to build 17.5 GW of electrolysers by 2025 and a modern regulatory framework for hydrogen.

The new strategy outlines a target of10 million tonnes of domestic renewable hydrogenproduction and 10 million tonnes of imports by 2030, to replace natural gas, coal, and oil in hard-to-decarbonise industries and transport sectors.

Also in the medium term, the EU plans significant investments in an integrated and adapted gas and electricity infrastructure network.

For the four countries bringing forward the massive offshore wind plan, integration and interconnection is also one of the top priorities.

Under the Esbjerg Declaration, Belgium, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands also announced their decision to jointly develop The North Sea as a Green Power Plant of Europe, an offshore renewable energy system that will consist of multiple connected offshore energy projects and hubs, offshore wind production at massive scale as well as electricity and green hydrogen interconnectors.

The system will connect the four countries and possibly other North Sea partners, including the members of the North Seas Energy Cooperation (NSEC).

The Ministers of Energy of the four countries have also signed a declaration on realising and advancing these plans for energy islands in the North Sea, with one of the first steps being expanding the worlds first energy island to its maximum potential capacity of 10 GW at 2040 at the latest.

Denmark and the Netherlands will explore how to connect the energy island in the Danish EEZ to a Dutch energy hub, including perspectives for offshore green hydrogen production, and Denmark also signed a Letter of Intent with Germany to initiate bilateral cooperation on green hydrogen both onshore and offshore.

The four ministers also stated that they would launch analytical work as a first step towards establishing the next of several major energy hubs and islands in the North Sea, including a collective process to identify options for the exact location, capacity and technical configuration.

We will begin planning for multiple energy hubs and islands by undertaking a screening of the potential for offshore wind, and where relevant green hydrogen production, in our entire North Sea territory, they said in a joint declaration.

In the development of energy hubs, Belgium, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands have agreed to explore the possible synergies of cooperating on offshore hydrogen production and transmission, as well as an appropriate regulatory framework and support for green hydrogen innovation to support European production of green fuels and the phase-out of imported natural gas.

We support the European Commissions plan to develop a well-functioning market for green hydrogen in order to accelerate the buildout and support a high security of supply of affordable green hydrogen and energy for industry, the Ministers of Energy said.

In order to scale up capacity nationally and regionally, we will build on the ongoing work to establish an IPCEI on green hydrogen and consider further options for cross-border cooperation. For a well-functioning green hydrogen market across Europe, we will accompany and support the necessary EU regulation for green hydrogen.

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Increased Offshore Wind Targets to Fuel REPowerEU Green Hydrogen Ambitions | Offshore Wind - Offshore WIND

By Keenan Willard, WRAL eastern North Carolina reporter

Beaufort, N.C. Outer Banks visitors are concerned over the possibility that North Carolina could use parts of Morehead City for offshore wind construction. They believe the $20 million that will be used add wind power to Radio Islandwill impact the area's tourism.

Radio Island is a mostly untouched stretch of beach near the heart of Morehead City. But much of the area could be paved over as the state looks to the future of wind energy.

"Youve got people that live here and use this place for leisure," said Alex Hemby, who vacations in Morehead City. "Theyre not going to want that if its here. This is a vacation spot.

Radio Island has more than 200 acres of overgrown land. It's one of the few underdeveloped sites on the Morehead Coastline. Some tourists feel another major development in the area could push travelers to look elsewhere.

"We have the Fort Macon State Park, and you can see pretty great views from it," Hemby said. "It would be quite an eyesore back there to see just concrete, windmills, warehouses."

North Carolina has budgeted $20 million to possibly develop the Radio Island area for offshore wind.

"North Carolina has this amazing, once-in-a-generation opportunity to transition to a clean energy economy right now," said Jennifer Mundt, state secretary for Clean Energy Economic Development.

This plan is part of North Carolina's effort to capitalize on what could be a hundred billion dollar industry, according to the state.

"Tens of thousands of jobs that will provide families sustaining wages for folks both at the coast and throughout the whole geography of the state," Mundt said.

Right now, the state is surveying the land for environmental impact.

North Carolina State Ports Authority will be listening to public comments on the project through next week. The state Department of Commerce said with a lengthy environmental review, construction wouldnt start for at least several years.

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Visitors concerned possible offshore wind construction will drive tourists away from Morehead City - WRAL News

Offshore staff

SINGAPORE Sembcorp Marine sees stronger growth prospects for offshore oil and gas and renewable energy projects, the company said in its latest results statement.

During the first quarter, the group fabricated 15 wind turbine jacket foundations for Jan De Nuls Formosa 2 offshore wind farm; completed offshore hookup and commissioning of the substation and reactive compensation station for Orsteds Hornsea 2 wind farm in the U.K. North Sea; and delivered the converted FSRU Karmol LNGT Powership Asia to KARMOL for deployment off Brazil.

Sembcorp has started work on a FEED contract awarded by Altera for the FPSO facility for Santos Dorado development offshore Western Australia, and it hopes to shortly secure the EPC contract for this project.

Other recent work has included the Transocean Deepwater Atlas and Deepwater Titan drillships.

Work has started on design services for a Jones Act-compliant wind turbine installation vessel in collaboration with Maersk Supply Service, with first steel set to be cut in the fourth quarter.

Ahead of its planned merger with Keppel Group, Sembcorp continues to pursue oil and gas tender opportunities and offshore vessels upgrade projects.

05.19.2022

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Sembcorp Marine reports successful completion and delivery of offshore projects - Offshore magazine

POSCO Energy and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cooperate on offshore wind and green hydrogen business development.

Under the MoU, the two companies will work together on the development of offshore wind projects, cooperate on supply chaindevelopment foroffshore wind, and on developing a green hydrogen business.

To achieve their agreed plans, POSCO and CIP will create a joint working group for offshore wind and green hydrogen.

For POCO, cooperation withCIPallows the company to have an opportunity to develop its offshore wind business not only in Korea butalsooverseas, according to POSCO Energy President Jeong Ki-seop, who also added that the offshore wind development will enable further cooperation in the green hydrogen field.

In offshore wind, POSCO already has a project under development in South Korea. The 300 MWoffshore wind farm is located in the waters west of the Jaeun Island in the Sinan county.

Last year, the company entered a similar MoU with rsted, under which the two parties agreed to support the development of rsteds 1.6 GW offshore wind projects off the coast of Incheon City and to conduct feasibility studies on potential collaboration on renewable hydrogen.

In April 2021, POSCO also entered into an agreement with South Koreas SK Engineering & Construction and POSCO to develop a new floating offshore wind foundation, with plans to carry out a demonstration test in 2023 at a 136 MW project offshore Ulsan.

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POSCO, CIP Partner on Offshore Wind and Green Hydrogen in South Korea - Offshore WIND

A $220 billion energy-transition package calls for faster offshore wind permitting and a more resilient renewables supply chain EIA file image

PublishedMay 18, 2022 6:06 PM by The Maritime Executive

The European Commission has released the details of a five-year, $220 billion plan to accelerate the green transition and move away from dependence on Russian fossil energy. The program, dubbed REPowerEU, is a response to the dual challenges of Russian aggression and climate change.

Europe spends about $100 billion per year on Russian oil, gas and coal, and much of the revenue finds its way into the Kremlin's federal budget. Moscow's $300 million-per-day invasion is directly funded by oil and gas sales, giving the EU an urgent incentive to transition to other sources of energy. For as long as it supports Ukraine's defense and simultaneously sends fuel payments to Russia, Europe will be buying weapons for both sides of thewar.

To end the bloc's dependence on Russian fuel, the EC calls for "deep transformation of industrial processes," through investment in electrification, hydrogen, or carbon storage. This requires increasing the share of renewable power generation by an additional five percentage points by 2030, raising the target to 45 percent from 40 percent. To get there, the EC wants to speed up installation of offshore wind farms, and it calls for site permitting processes - the industry's main impediment to rapid development - to be "drastically accelerated."

Some of this green electricity would go towards powering 10 million tonnes of domestic renewable hydrogen capacity. This green fuel source would be supplemented by another 10 million tonnes of hydrogen imports. To accelerate the process, the EC wants to set aside $200 million for hydrogen R&D.

The commission also proposes to boost energy-efficiency targets in the existing "Fit for 55" EU Green Deal, and to start now with a campaign encouraging consumers to reduce energy use. Until now, the idea of seeking to lower energy demand has been widely viewed as politically undesirable, as it requires asking voters to change their consumption patterns.

The proposal also calls for reducing Europe's dependence on the global supply chain for renewables. This includes supporting domestic solar-cell manufacturing (currently dominated by China) and diversifying the sources of raw materials for green power equipment (also dominated by China). "What's the point of ending one dependency if you're going to be locked into another one even more dramatically?" said EC President Ursula von der Leyen in a statement.

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EC Wants More Offshore Wind to Help Replace Russian Energy - The Maritime Executive

Asthe Maine Department of Transportation gears up to do exploratory work on Sears Island, which has been identified as one of the sites for a potential wind portfor Maine, a local land trust is pushing back.

The Islesboro Islands Trust on Tuesday asked Maine DOT Commissioner Bruce Van Note to withdraw the permit application that has been filed with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. The permit would allow the Maine DOT to selectively clear trees, and do marine- and land-based borings and test pit explorations on the site.

The group sent the letter to Van Note just a week before the first meeting of the Offshore Wind Port Advisory Group, a group of 19 stakeholders who will advise the Maine DOT, the Governors Energy Office and other state officials on the development of a wind port. The initial meeting will be held from 9 a.m. 1 p.m. on Thursday, May 26, at the Searsport Town Office.

The work itself is of concern to us, but I think its more what the work represents, Steve Miller, the executive director of the land trust and a member of the wind port advisory group, said. Were concerned about the integrity of the process by the DOT showing a clear preference for Sears Island.

The land trust is among the groups advocating against building the wind assembly, manufacturing and launching facilityon Sears Island, an undeveloped 940-acre island that is owned by the state. Instead, they would prefer the state focus its gaze on Mack Point on the Searsport mainland, which already is an industrial port.

In 2020, Gov. Janet Mills directed the Maine DOT to look at the Port of Searsport, the states second-busiest port, to assess its potential to support the offshore wind industry. The states goal is to use 80 percent renewable energy by 2030 and 100 percent by 2050.

Last fall, a feasibility study commissioned by the Maine DOT determined that either Sears Island or Mack Point could be good sites for a marine terminal that would serve as a centralized hub. But the studys engineers found that Sears Island would be a more practical location for the offshore wind hub because the costs would likely be lower.

Preliminary estimates indicate that building the facility on Mack Point would take four years and cost nearly $500 million. On Sears Island, the work would cost more than $150 million less, according to the feasibility study.

But midcoast environmentalists would like Sears Island to remain undeveloped. During the 20th century, the island was a magnet for major proposed industrial developments which never came to fruition, including a nuclear power plant, an aluminum smelter, a coal-fired generator and cargo ports. In 2003, when a company proposed building a liquid natural gas terminal there, a coalition formed to oppose it.

The fight over the liquid natural gas terminal resulted in a long, often-fraught negotiation process with Sears Island stakeholders, and in 2007, a compromise was hashed out. The terms included the Maine DOT setting aside 340 acres of the island as a location for a future container port, which is where the proposed wind hub would be located. The rest of the island would remain in conservation. According to that consensus agreement, the Maine DOT would try to meet marine transportation needs at the Mack Point port facility before seeking to develop Sears Island.

Miller called the Maine DOTs efforts to do geotechnical exploration on Sears Island an apparent disregard of the consensus agreement.

It is inappropriate for the DOT to initiate the development process for a fabrication site and port at Sears Island before full consideration is given to the Mack Point site, he said in the letter to Van Note.

But Paul Merrill, the director of communications for the Maine DOT, said that the work on Sears Island is needed to provide data about subsurface conditions and materials at the site. It would be used to assess site condition risks, impacts and cost estimates, he said, adding that the DOT already has substantial geotechnical data from the Mack Point site.

The information collected will help answer likely questions from the states Offshore Wind Port Advisory Group and others, he said. We expect the members of the group to have varying perspectives and to engage in robust and thoughtful discussions regarding the potential for port development to support the rapidly growing offshore wind market.

That doesnt do much to reassure people like Rolf Olsen of the Friends of Sears Island and a member of the Offshore Wind Port Advisory Group.

Theres some anxiety here at Friends of Sears Island that a decision has basically been made that Sears Island is the first choice for this, and thats the direction theyre working towards, Olsen said.

But it does make sense to James Gillway, the Searsport town manager and co-chair of the advisory group.

I think thats data that the offshore wind advisory group is going to need to give an informed opinion to the Maine DOT about siting, he said. We dont know whats underground.

In the 1970s, he said, engineers dug a hole all the way to the bedrock while exploring the notion of building a nuclear power plant on the island.

Back then, they dug a big pit. Now theyre doing some test borings with a machine to see whats underground, Gillway said. Theres a lot of unknowns about what lies before the surface on Sears Island.

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Local land trust urges state to not begin offshore wind work on Sears Island - Bangor Daily News