Monthly Archives: June 2022

General Motors Ventures, which the automaker set up to help fund the development of new and promising technology, made a $10 million investment in Wind Catching Systems AS, which is pioneering a new source of renewable energy.

As GM continues to move towards an all-electric future, its critical that we simultaneously drive the transition of the grid to low-carbon energy sources, said Kristen Siemen, GMs chief sustainability officer.

GM Ventures investment in offshore wind with Wind Catching Systems represents an opportunity to accelerate innovative technology to market, advancing a cleaner, more reliable, and resilient energy future.

Wind Catching Systems goal is to establish floating, offshore wind operations to produce electricity at a cost that competes with other energy sources, without subsidies.

The technology is expected to cut acreage use by more than 80% and increase efficiency significantly in comparison to conventional floating offshore wind farms, according to WCS executives.

WCS is proud to announce GM as a strategic collaborator and GMV as investor for the next stage of our technology development and commercialization journey, providing additional long-term and competent capital from a global leader in technology and transportation industrialization, said Ole Heggheim, WCS CEO.

Wind Catching Systems technology is projected to have a structural design life of 50 years, should cost substantially less to maintain than conventional floating offshore wind solutions, and will aim to solve sustainability issues related to recycling, marine resources and carbon dioxide emissions from installation and maintenance.

In addition, one Wind Catching unit is expected to have the same annual production as five conventional 15 MW offshore wind turbines.

General Motors Ventures and WCS have entered into a strategic agreement for collaboration covering technology development, project execution, offshore wind policy and the advancement of sustainable technology applications.

However, its not GMs only effort involving wind power generation.

GMstruck a 20-year deal earlier this yearwith CMS Energy Corp. to allow GM to operate factories in Flint, Michigan, including the companys enormously profitable truck assembly plant, and another plant in Wyoming, Michigan, just outside Grand Rapids, exclusively on electricity generated by the wind.

The car company is offsetting 235,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, which is equivalent to greenhouse gas emissions produced by 51,000 cars, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calculations, the utility noted.

Additionally,GMs Flint Metal Center and Flint Engine Operations and the energy usedat Switchs Pyramid Campus, a 1.8 million-square-foot data center campus in Grand Rapids, Michigan, are operating entirely with energy produced by Cross WindsEnergy Park II, which is located in Michigans Thumb region to the east of Flint.

Even back in 2016, the companys switched its Arlington, Texas plant over to wind power to build those highly profitable full-size pickups and sport-utility vehicles.

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GM Sinks $10M into Floating Offshore Wind Venture - The Detroit Bureau

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PublishedJun 19, 2022 11:29 PM by The Maritime Executive

Global offshore wind developer Corio Generation is expanding its footprint to South America with plans to build five projects in Brazil. Taken together, they will have a combined capacity of more than five gigawatts, adding to Brazil's 97.4 GW list of projects in planning.

Corio, which is a portfolio company of Macquaries Green Investment Group (GIG), is partnering with Brazilian power generation company Servtec, which has been in the renewables sector for more than 20 years.Corio and Servtec intend to apply for leases for five fixed-bottom projects in the countrys northeastern, southeastern and southern maritime areas, ranging from about 500 MW to over 1.2 GW in installed capacity.

The projects are the 1.2 GW Costa Nordeste wind farm off the north-eastern state of Ceara, 495 MW Vitoria wind farm off south-eastern state of Espirito Santo and the 1.2 GW Guarita. The others are the 1.2 GW Cassino and 1.1 GWRio Grande wind farms, bothoff the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul.

Brazil is blessed with immense wind resources along its coastline, offering a vital new source of clean, affordable and reliable energy. We see a huge opportunity for harnessing Brazils ocean wind energy, bringing economic investment and green jobs to the country, said Jonathan Cole, Corio Generation CEO.

The investment in Brazil comes soon after Corio announced plans for a giant 2.5 GW windfarm off the coast of Victoria,Australia, which would supply enough clean energy for around 1.6 million homes.Corio boasts a global portfolio of more than 20 GW of offshore wind projects in Australia, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Brazil is rolling out plans to diversify renewable energy mix, with a focus on offshore wind. In a January decree, the federal government introduced a new regulatory framework for offshore wind, and it took effect in June.The country has favorable wind speeds along its coastline and is emerging as a major new growth market for offshore wind. Brazil wants to identify new sources of low-cost renewable energy, and it has to satisfy rising electricity demand in heavily populated coastal areas - an ideal combination for offshore wind demand.

The Renewables Consulting Group's2021 Global Offshore Wind Annual Market Report shows thatBrazil is the epicenter of future offshore wind development - ahead of well-established countries like the United Kingdom, Vietnam, China and Taiwan.

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Brazil Steps Further Ahead in Offshore Wind With Five New Projects - The Maritime Executive

A shot of Zelim's SARbox display from Project SANCHO

As the number of people working in offshore wind energy grows, one innovative Scottish company is creating the worlds first offshore autonomous casualty detection and tracking system, alongside revolutionary technology that rescues people who have fallen overboard.

Edinburgh-based Zelim recently successfully demonstrated their two-step recovery system to the offshore wind industry. The companys real time AI-based casualty detection system SARBox detects and tracks multiple people in the water in all weather conditions. Once discovered, Zelims Swift Rescue Conveyor recovers casualties in record time.

SARBox was recently demonstrated for the first time at Project SANCHO, a live international exercise at Orsteds Race Bank offshore wind farm to assess the industrys emergency response capability. It successfully identified and tracked multiple casualties during the exercise that included the Maritime Coastguard Agency, US Coast Guard, the RNLI, police and Offshore Wind Farm operators.

The Swift Rescue Conveyor also recently completed rough weather trials where it tackled wind speeds of 46mph and 3m waves recovering casualties from the water 30 seconds from first point of contact. Offshore Wind vessels using current overboard recovery systems took over five minutes from first contact. The Swift will launch at Seawork22 this month.

Sam Mayall, CEO of Zelim, said: Although still rare, accidents do occur offshore and during a person overboard incident, the sooner you can get someone out of the water the better. The difference between 30 seconds and five minutes could be life or death. Our SARBox is cutting out the search element of search and rescue and the Swift Rescue Conveyor is getting people out of the water quicker while decreasing the risk of injury during the rescue.

The development of SARBox and Swift has been supported by the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult and the Offshore Wind Growth Partnership (OWGP). In 2019, Zelim joined ORE Catapults national Launch Academy, a technology accelerator programme for the offshore wind industry. In 2020, ORE Catapult supported Zelim in the development of an unmanned rescue vessel and in 2021, Zelim worked with ORE Catapult and secured funding from the OWGP to develop SARBox.

Andrew Macdonald, Director of Offshore Wind Development and Operations at ORE Catapult,said: Innovation faces challenges at every stage from concept through to development and commercialisation. ORE Catapult has been delighted to support Zelim at each stage from start-up business support through the Launch Academy, collaborative R&D to accelerate technology development, and an OWGP Innovation Grant to finance further growth.

SARBox was recently demonstrated for the first time at Project SANCHO, a live international exercise at Orsteds Race Bank offshore wind farm to assess the industrys emergency response capability.

The team at Zelim have a passion for improving offshore safety and this has helped them build a strong ecosystem of partners and advisors that provide credibility and experience as they commercialise their products. As the number of offshore wind farms increases and their locations move further from shore, there is a clear need for solutions such as Zelims to ensure that safety is never compromised.

The Swift will be launched at Seawork22, the leading European commercial marine exhibition, held in Southampton on 22 June.

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Sea rescue system that could save lives of offshore wind workers successfully trialled - PoliticsHome

The Danish Energy Agency and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark have launched a new virtual platform, http://www.offshorewindtour.org, to share Danish experiences with offshore wind in an effort to help accelerate the development of the industry globally.

Sharing Danish experiences and expertise accumulated over the last thirty plus years with upcoming offshore wind nations can help multiply the effect of the Danish know-how by contributing to the development of new offshore wind markets and accelerating the global green transition.

By launching the virtual wind platform, the Danish offshore wind experiences will be available for the rest of the world.

Upscaling offshore wind internationally can contribute to energy security, a just energy transition and decarbonisation including green hydrogen and power-to-X. Denmark only emits around 0.1 per cent of the worlds CO2 emissions and our national climate efforts cannot stand alone. By sharing our offshore wind experiences, we can help other countries making it easier, less costly and less time consuming to develop an offshore wind industry and reduce their CO2 emissions, said Dan Jrgensen, Minister for Climate, Energy and Utilities.

The virtual wind platform is targeted at government authorities in emerging offshore wind markets. The Danish Energy Agency already cooperates with several of these countries, including the United States, Korea, Japan, France, and India.

The platform is the latest tool in the governmental partnerships offering a wide variety of features such as a 3D helicopter ride to an offshore transformer platform; learning about the different areas of the offshore wind supply chain through experts working within the wind industry on daily basis which you can meetthrough the menu in the Power room at the substation; and exploring the visual effects of wind turbines at different distances from shore.

The platform is available in three different languages: English, Japanese and Korean.

An important precondition for succeeding with offshore wind is good regulatory frameworks in order to expand the offshore wind market and attract investors successfully which is a Danish stronghold, the ministry said. The agencys own wind energy experts are among the many contributors together with industry experts representing key areas to a successful offshore wind development. The platform invites people to learn and understand more about the Danish approach and experiences within offshore wind.

Not all our partners have the possibility to come to Denmark and helicopter to an offshore transformer platform. By launching a virtual wind platform, we can reach a much broader audience. Of course, the virtual tour cannot be compared with a physical tour, but the experience and understanding can take place on the visitors terms independent of time zones, resources etc. It is the closest we get to an almost real life experience and the platform is an important tool to inspire for an urgent global green transition based on offshore wind, said Kristoffer Bttzauw, Director General of the Danish Energy Agency.

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Danes Go Virtual to Share Offshore Wind Know-How - Offshore WIND

File image courtesy Pemex

PublishedJun 19, 2022 5:52 PM by The Maritime Executive

Armed pirates struck another platform operated by Pemex last week, forcing the crew to help them cart off stolen goods before departing again.

A group of 10 armed robbers boarded a platform at the Rebombeo pumping complex in the Bay of Campeche last Tuesday evening, workers told local media. The attackers stayed for about three hours, and they took tools, SCBAs and materials from the platform. None of the crew were injured, but the pirates forced them to carry the goods and help load three getaway boats.

The Repompeo platform is a re-pumping station for three major oil pipelines connecting the Bay of Campeche's offshore fields with a receiving station on shore. It has a nameplate capacity of 800,000 barrels per day, and it is a central infrastructure node for Pemex's offshore operations.

Piracy and armed robbery are a frequent problem for Pemex in the Gulf of Mexico. Criminal gangs target platforms as well as offshore support vessels on a regular basis; the number of actual incidents is believed to be greater than the number reported.

In late May, armed pirates boarded an offshore vessel near an oil field off Tabasco, making off with thousands of dollars worth of equipment - notably 35 SCBAs. They fired shots into the air to compel the seafarers to stay out of their way, crewmembers told local media, and they left after about 45 minutes of looting.

In late January, another group of pirates robbed the Ku Sierra platform in the Bay of Campeche, part of Pemex's core Ku-Maloob-Zaap field complex. They made off with 25 SCBAs, communications equipment, tools and other gear.

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Armed Pirates Rob Offshore Platform in Bay of Campeche - The Maritime Executive

A wind turbine at the Ormonde Offshore Wind Farm, in the Irish Sea. With governments around the world attempting to ramp up their renewable energy capacity, the number of wind turbines worldwide only looks set to grow, which will in turn increase pressure on the sector to find sustainable solutions to the disposal of blades.

Ashley Cooper | Corbis Documentary | Getty Images

A major offshore wind farm being built in waters off the Netherlands is set to use recyclable blades from Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy the latest in a line of companies attempting to tackle an issue that's proved to be a challenge for the wind energy sector.

In a statement Thursday, Swedish energy firm Vattenfall said some of the wind turbines at the 1.5 gigawatt Hollandse Kust Zuid facility would use Siemens Gamesa's RecycableBlades. These blades, Vattenfall said, use "a resin type that dissolves in a low-temperature, mildly acidic solution."

That, it explained, enables the resin to be separated from other components within the blade carbon fiber, wood, fiberglass, metal and plastic "without significantly impacting their properties." The components can then be recycled and used again.

Offshore construction on Hollandse Kust Zuid, which will use 140 wind turbines, began in July 2021. It is jointly owned by Vattenfall, Allianz and BASF and commissioning is planned for 2023.

The issue of what to do with wind turbine blades when they're no longer needed is a headache for the industry. That's because the composite materials that blades are made from can be difficult to recycle, which means that many end up in landfills when their service life ends.

With governments around the world attempting to ramp up their renewable energy capacity, the number of wind turbines worldwide only looks set to grow, which will in turn increase pressure on the sector to find sustainable solutions to the disposal of blades.

Vattenfall is one of several companies looking into recycling and reusing wind turbine blades an aim that feeds into the idea of creating a "circular economy" in which waste is minimized and products repurposed and reused.

Earlier in June, Spanish energy firm Iberdrola said it had jointly established a company with FCC Ambito that plans to recycle components used in renewable energy installations, including wind turbine blades. FCC Ambito is a subsidiary of FCC Servicios Medio Ambiente.

In a statement at the time, Iberdrola said the company, known as EnergyLOOP, would develop a blade recycling facility in Navarre, northern Spain.

"The initial objective will be the recovery of wind turbine blade components mostly glass and carbon fibres and resins and their reuse in sectors such as energy, aerospace, automotive, textiles, chemicals and construction," the company said.

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A huge offshore wind farm is jumping on a growing industry trend recyclable turbine blades - CNBC

Workforce Training moves to virtual reality for offshore wind jobs

Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito visited the Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School for a virtual reality offshore wind training demo.

Seth Chitwood, Standard-Times

NEW BEDFORD Gov. Charlie Baker wants Massachusetts to keep the offshore wind industry on a relatively fast track by moving as quickly as possible to develop the physical infrastructure and create a skilled workforce needed to lead the way as other states on the East Coast aim to lead the way.

At the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal Thursday morning, Baker, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito and Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Beth Card joined local officials to announce the launch of the Offshore Wind Industry Ports Investment Challenge.

Local businesses are invited to submit a request for proposals for the $50 million allocated from the newly created Offshore Wind Investment Fund for eligible maritime port redevelopment and improvement projects with applications due by July 29 and the awards announced this fall.

Massachusetts is well positioned to be a major player, not only in solving many of our own clean energy objectives on a go forward basis, but to be a provider and a supporter for other folks as they go through the process of building out and benefiting from this burgeoning industry here on the East Coast, he said. New Bedford in many respects will end up being what I think of as ground zero with respect to a lot of this activity.

Seeing is believing: New Bedford walking tour shows where offshore wind jobs will be

Massachusetts Clean Energy Center CEO Jen Daloisio said shes thrilled to launch the offshore wind port investment challenge at the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal, the first of its kind in the United States, in recognition of the need to invest in infrastructure.

Were excited to see our historic port communities reinvigorated, she said. Along with public and private partnerships and investments, we can make improvements to port facilities and bring them into active use for this new industry. This will create significant jobs and economic activity in local communities.

She said MassCEC can ensure through its programs focusing on workforce development that these opportunities will be equitable and accessible to all the states diverse populations.

With contracts going out in October or November, Daloisio said Vineyard Wind will be able to begin operations at the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal in January and Mayflower Wind will follow on their heels to set up their part of the development.

Could it be in a movie?: This home was designed by the architect of the original Breakers.

Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Beth Card said investments need to be made in other Massachusetts ports, too, to support the offshore wind industry.

This $50 million that were making available today will also help to leverage additional private and local in-kind contributions to New Bedford so were working as a team, and we really look forward to those partnerships, but its also part of a larger plan, she said.

She said funding opportunities are also available through the Future Opportunities for Resiliency, Workforce and Revitalized Downtowns (Forward) Act, an economic development bill that includes $1.3 billion in environmental and energy infrastructure funding, with $150 million intended to support renewable energy in Massachusetts through research, innovation and workforce training.

Baker has also proposed $100 million in supplemental funding for investment in the states ports to help meet the states decarbonization goals including reaching net zero emissions by 2050 and becoming more resilient to climate change with offshore wind as the centerpiece.

Mayor Jon Mitchell said he read a report that there are some 19 ports between Massachusetts and South Carolina that will have some offshore wind activity in the next five years, so there is competition.

The legislation that is now pending is critical to getting out ahead of the competition, he said. The offshore wind business is coming. Its going to set up shop somewhere. We want it to set up shop here.

Sen. Michael Barrett, D-Lexington, and Rep. Antonio Cabral, D-New Bedford, agreed there is competition and that Massachusetts needs to continue to lead the way.

Baker, Polito, Card and Daloisio also visited UMass Dartmouth to meet with Chancellor Mark Fuller for the presentation of Offshore Wind Works Awards highlighting the administrations efforts in building a clean energy workforce. A total of $3.8 million in grant funding has been awarded to nine Massachusetts organizations.

Standard-Times staff writer Kathryn Gallerani can be reached at kgallerani@wickedlocal.com. Follow her on Twitter: @kgallreporter. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Standard-Times today.

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Baker announces Offshore Wind Investment Challenge in New Bedford - SouthCoastToday.com

To maintain market leadership in offshore banking,Swiss finance is going to have to get in better shape. Better advisory and an upgraded emerging market presence are key.

The possibility that Switzerland could soon fall behind Hong Kong and Singapore as the leading offshore financial center is another shot across the bow for an industry that has been constantly trying to reinvent itself since the financial crisis. Numerous regulatory obstacles have stood in the way, including the automatic exchange of information (AEOI) and the US Foreign Tax Compliance Act (Fatca).

On the Defensive

For the institutions providing offshore services, it has become increasingly hard to explain to clients living overseas why they should choose to have their assets booked and managed in Switzerland.

Given that, it is not surprising that the country could soon lose its role as the world's leading offshore center. At least that is what the authors of the recent Global Wealth Report study by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) predict, asfinews.comreported.

A Personal Business

Christoph Knzleof the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) took a closer look at what could prevent that from happening. As a lecturer for banking and finance, he examined what the problems were with a group of students together with a number of relationship managers, and external wealth and asset managers.

One of the most important conclusions that they drew was that clients from all the countries surveyed always looked for a personal relationship, although the exact form or modality was different for each group.

Clients from developed markets look for full and holistic advisory services, as they are often confronted with complicated corporate structures of cross-border tax issues. In contrast, clients from emerging markets pay closer heed to a bank's reputation, which is often determined by individual perception but often complemented by key figures such as an institute's equity ratios, the size of its balance sheet, and its shareholder structure.

Fees More Important than Returns

Earlier studies back this up, confirming that portfolio returns are of lesser importance. As the authors write, achieving performance does prevent frustration but it does not do much for long-term client satisfaction. Although they did also come to the realization in the study that clients look at fees far more closely now.

Playing to Strengths

That makes things clear. Swiss offshore banking has to improve the quality of its services and investment expertise. It should also develop a more confident and robust market presence in emerging markets. At the same time, it should be very selective when dealing with potentially risky clients in order to protect its image and reputation.

Digitalization was largely dismissed. Or at least any hybrid form of interaction between clients and offshore clients was still not seen as posing much of an issue in the study.

A Sore Point

The authors of the study hit a sore spot in their recommendation to transfer more offshore banking activities to overseas centers, using further globalization as a further pretext for success. But sensitive questions would need to be answered first. Questions such as whether a client of a Swiss bank in Singapore get the same type of private banking services that it would in Geneva?

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Swiss Offshore Banking in Need of a New Workout Plan - finews.com