Category Archives: Offshore

Text Size:A- A+

New Delhi: The Institutes of Eminence (IoEs) in India, such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institute of Science (IISc), will now be allowed to establish their campuses outside the country.

The University Grants Commission has amended its regulation for IoEs and included a clause allowing offshore campuses for such institutes. It released the new UGC (Institutions of Eminence Deemed to be Universities) (Amendments) Regulations 2021, Thursday.

Currently, the Narendra Modi government has declared 20 institutes 10 private and 10 public, including IIT-Delhi, IIT-Bombay, IIT-Madras, IIT-Kharagpur, IISc and University of Hyderabad, among others as IoEs.

As reported by ThePrint earlier, the central government had started working on the plan to allow top ranked Indian institutions like the IITs to set up campuses abroad last year itself. In August 2020, the ministry had asked all IoEs whether they would be interested in setting up campuses outside India, as this is a provision the new National Education Policy allows. The government has now come up with rules and regulations for the same.

Also read:JEE-Advanced test for IIT admissions to be held on 3 July

According to the amended regulations, an IoE shall be permitted to start a maximum of three off-campus centres in five years, but not more than one in an academic year.

An institution willing to establish an off-campus centre shall have to submit an application to the Ministry of Education containing its 10-year strategic vision plan and a five-year rolling implementation plan which would include the plans for academics, faculty recruitment, student admissions, research, infrastructure development, finance and administration, etc.

A proposed off-campus centre is expected to achieve a teacher-student ratio of 1:20 initially, and 1:10 by the end of five years.

The faculty for this purpose shall include the regular faculty, adjunct faculty, overseas faculty, visiting faculty, contractual faculty, industry faculty and tenure track faculty or faculty as otherwise permitted by the Statutory Council concerned, the regulation reads.

It adds that at least 60 per cent of the appointed faculty members should be on permanent basis. The institute should also have enrolled a minimum of 500 students on its rolls under regular classroom mode with one third PG/research students.

The campus should have a built up area of not less than thirty square metres per student which shall include academic (academic buildings, library, lecture hall, laboratories. etc.), administrative (hostels, faculty residences, health care), common and recreational facilities.

According to the rules, the institutes will have to ensure that the norms and standards followed at the off-campus centres are the same as that maintained in the main campus. The regulations also add that the off-campus centres shall follow the similar admission criteria, curriculum, examination system and evaluation.

The IoEs shall be permitted to start an off-campus centre in an interim campus, subject to the condition that the permanent campus shall be ready within a reasonable time period not exceeding five years.

Rules also provide for the IoEs to ensure that the off-campus centres evolve into a multi-disciplinary research and teaching campuses with a minimum of 300 teachers and 3,000 students.

The IoEs shall be allowed to start a new offshore campus with prior approval of the Ministry of Education, and a no objection certificate from the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Also read:DU looks to reopen colleges for final-year science students, eyes February date

Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram

Why news media is in crisis & How you can fix it

India needs free, fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism even more as it faces multiple crises.

But the news media is in a crisis of its own. There have been brutal layoffs and pay-cuts. The best of journalism is shrinking, yielding to crude prime-time spectacle.

ThePrint has the finest young reporters, columnists and editors working for it. Sustaining journalism of this quality needs smart and thinking people like you to pay for it. Whether you live in India or overseas, you can do it here.

Support Our Journalism

Link:

IITs, other Institutes of Eminence can set up offshore campuses now UGC issues new rules - ThePrint

Dogger Bank, which will eventually become the worlds largest offshore wind farm, is getting an $8 billion investment from Norwegian oil giant Equinor and British energy company SSE. The money will be used to construct the first two phases of the project.

SSE Renewables is leading the construction of the 3.6 GW project, and Equinor will lead on the wind farms operations.

Equinor writes:

With the strong interest from lenders, Dogger Bank A and B were able to secure competitive terms, despite unprecedented economic circumstances arising from the global coronavirus pandemic. The final group of lenders, comprising 29 banks and three export credit agencies, includes experienced lenders in the sector along with relationship lenders of both SSE and Equinor.

The three-phase project will include construction of a total of 3.6 gigawatts of capacity in the British North Sea, (1.2 GW per phase) and will power 6 million UK homes when it is fully operational, or 5% of UK power demand. Reuters writes:

The first phase, of 1.2 GW, is expected to start operations in 2023, with the second following about a year later. Each phase will generate around 6 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity annually.

A third phase is planned for completion by 2026.

Dogger Bank willbe the first tofeature the13MW General Electric (GE)Haliade-X, the largest wind turbine in the world. One rotation of the Haliade-X can power a British home for two days. (No wonder Jim Cramer thought GE what he called a Biden stock was a good bet.)

Dogger Bank will boost the British governments goal to quadruple the UKs current offshore wind capacity to 40 GW by 2030.

It also helps both SSE and Equinor fulfill their own climate targets. Equinor aims to be net zero by 2050, as Electrek reported on November 3.

Pl Eitrheim, Equinors executive vice president of New Energy Solutions, said:

Equinor is committed to being a leading company in the energy transition and to helping the UK government deliver on its 10-point plan for a green industrial future.

Photo: GE

Subscribe to Electrek on YouTube for exclusive videos and subscribe to the podcast.

Read this article:

Worlds largest offshore wind farm secures $8bn investment - Electrek

In a world increasingly affected by climate change, burning fossil fuels is no longer a long-term option.

Thankfully, the natural world around us offers plenty of opportunities for clean, renewable energy. The ocean is one of them.

Today there are three main sources of offshore renewables. This is how they work.

Today, wind farms are the most popular type of offshore renewable and compared to wind farms on land, they have many advantages:

"How an offshore wind farm works is actually very easy and fascinating as well", explains Lizet Ramirez, an offshore wind analyst from WindEurope.

When the wind blows, the turbine blades spin. The blades are connected to a series of mechanisms that increase the spin speed. This energy is then transmitted to a generator.

"It's like if you think of a fan but the opposite", adds Ramirez.

The generator transforms that kinetic energy into electricity. The power is then sent to a substation, a point where the electricity produced in the wind farm is collected. After that, a transformer will change the voltage to a higher level and the energy will be sent to houses onshore.

Offshore wind energy is helping to mitigate climate change. But one of the biggest challenges is that the infrastructure remains expensive to build and maintain. Wind farms can face harsh weather conditions, such as storms and hurricanes.

Currently, European engineers are working on solutions and the industry is already reducing costs.

"The technology has evolved", says Christoph Zipf, press and communications manager from WindEurope. "Turbines got bigger, but also because of scale effects. The more we learn, the cheaper they get".

Zipf also highlights that today, offshore wind is one of the cheapest sources of electricity in Europe: it's cheaper than all fossil fuels.

What about the ocean itself? Waves contain a lot of energy and many companies around the world are exploring how to exploit it.

AW-Energy Oy is one of them. This company has created the WaveRoller, a device that converts ocean wave energy into electricity hundreds of metres away from the coast and at the bottom of the sea.

"The big panel moves back and forth with the ocean waves and captures the energy," explains AW-Energy Oy's chief technology officer Jussi kerberg. "The power take-off unit with generators levels the energy and converts it to electricity."

The bigger the wave, the more powerful it is. But the power generated also depends on its speed, its length, and the power of the wind pushing it.

"In the future, multiple WaveRoller units can be combined to create a bigger wave farm", he adds.

But despite its many advantages, this technology isnt widely used yet. Researchers are still investigating how to make it an affordable and reliable alternative.

Tidal energy is one of the largest untapped renewables. And it has plenty of benefits.

Tides are highly dependent on the gravitational forces of the moon, which are determined by its cycles. That means they are easier to predict than wind and sun and that its possible to know in advance how much electricity will be produced. Unlike other offshore renewables, they don't rely on the weather either, they work even when there is no wind or sun.

Tidal energy is generated with tidal power generatorsunderwater turbinesthat are installed in places with high tidal movements. The movement of the water makes the blades turn. This drives the generator to produce electricity that is then sent to shore via power cables.

These devices can be difficult to install and maintain in the ocean due to harsh conditions, especially at competitive costs. However, recent technological improvements are making this possible. And many European countries are already embracing this technology, such as France and the United Kingdom.

Today, only 2% of Europe's electricity is produced at sea. Nevertheless, the continent is the global leader in offshore renewables.

The EU wants to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 and by then, offshore renewables will become the first source of power.

That is why the European Commission has launched an ambitious strategy.

By 2030, Europe's offshore wind capacity is set to multiply by 5, going from 12 to 60 GW. And by 2050 it will reach 300 GW, that's 25 times more than today. The EU has also committed to increasing ocean energy and other emerging technologies.

To meet these objectives nearly 800 billion will be needed. Most of that will need to come from private investment.

Continue reading here:

What are offshore renewables? And how do they work? - Euronews

It will be another cool start to the day as morning temperatures range from the mid-20s to the mid-40s. Subfreezing temperatures were reported across the deep interiors and east of Paso Robles.

As for wind conditions, northerly winds are still reaching upwards of 20 miles per hour Friday morning. Certain weather stations, including the Whale Rock Reservoir, reported winds upwards of 30 mph. Compared to Thanksgiving Day, these winds won't be as gusty, but offshore flow still remains a factor through the end of the weekend. Wind speeds will range from 10-25 mph through Saturday, but the breezy offshore conditions will result in clear skies for the Central Coast.

Daytime highs are increasing as high pressure builds over the west. Temperatures along the coast will stay close to the mid-60s, but most valley locations will have the chance to reach the 70s Friday through the end of the weekend.

See the original post:

Offshore flow and high pressure will bring valley temperatures up to the 70s Friday - KSBY San Luis Obispo News

The Netherlands hopes to get 40% of all their electricity from wind farms by 2030, with solar panels delivering another 30% of all power needed by then. Photo: Getty

Danish energy firm Orsted (DOGEF) has fully commissioned the worlds second-largest offshore wind farm in the Netherlands.

Borssele wind farm will be the first in a range that should boost the nations share of sustainable energy in the coming ten years.

The wind farm has a capacity of 752 megawatts (MW) and will generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of around 1 million Dutch households.

Borssele consists of 94 turbines spread over 112 square kilometres (43.2 square miles) in the North Sea some 23 kilometres (14 miles) off the Dutch coast.

It is Orsteds first offshore wind farm in the Netherlands. In 2016, the Danish company won the right to build the wind farm in an auction, at what was a record low subsidy on the electricity delivered at the time.

Since Orsteds auction win, the Dutch government has given the go ahead to build wind farms with a total capacity of 2800 MW at four other sites in the North Sea. It hasnt offered any subsidy on electricity prices at the last three auctions. Additionally, it plans to grant permits for another 6100 MW of wind power through four tenders in the next five years.

READ MORE: UK 'green revolution' plan could mean tax on road use

In 2019, almost 9% of all energy used in the country was from renewable sources, such as wind, solar and biomass. This was up from 7.4% in 2018.

Orsted built the worlds first offshore wind farm in Denmark in 1991. Since then, the energy firm has constructed and is operating more than 25 offshore wind farms across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.

The Netherlands hopes to get 40% of all its electricity from wind farms by 2030, with solar panels delivering another 30% of all power needed by then.

Many countries across the world are gearing up to tackle the problems of climate change and implementing plans to help them reach their goals.

In the UK, prime minister Boris Johnson has outlined a green revolution ten-point plan to level-up the country and help create 250,000 green jobs. Johnsons blueprint aims to forge the UK ahead with eradicating its contribution to climate change by 2050.

Watch: Why tax rises may be inevitable in Britain

Read this article:

Orsted says world's second-largest offshore wind farm is ready to go - Yahoo Sports

Youre poised for a big explosion of offshore wind growth, said Theodore Paradise, a senior vice president at the power line developer Anbaric, in Wakefield.

Industry executives hope a Biden-controlled Department of the Interior will ease the permitting bottleneck. Equally important: restarting auctions for offshore zones that have apparently been on hold under the current Interior secretary, David Bernhardt.

And the person Biden appoints as chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is more likely to approve clean-energy friendly policies. Another important change: Biden is expected to put more faith in the career bureaucrats at Interior and its Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, as well as the Department of Commerce, which should bring needed stability and consistency to agency reviews.

The prospect of an administration that is much more interested in fostering zero-emissions generation as part of a carbon [reduction] strategy is very good news for people who are in a zero-emissions generation business, said Seth Kaplan, external affairs director for the Mayflower Wind joint venture.

The offshore wind industry, funded in large part by European conglomerates, had been off to a strong start at the outset of President Trumps term, despite his public disdain for wind turbines. Prior Interior secretary Ryan Zinke was seen as warm to wind power, sometimes even a vocal champion. But the mood chilled considerably after Trump replaced him with Bernhardt, a former oil industry lobbyist.

Most notably, Bernhardt put the Vineyard Wind project on hold in mid-2019, just as it was about to get its final federal permit. The project was slated to be the first major offshore wind farm in the United States, with the potential to power more than 400,000 homes. Just 10 days ago, Vineyard Wind was hit with yet another permit delay. (The likely final approval date has been pushed to mid-January.)

And there hasnt been an auction for offshore wind leases since December 2018, despite the surprisingly strong interest in the last auction.

Bernhardt ostensibly put Vineyard Wind on hold to undertake a broader review of the cumulative impact of various wind proposals along the East Coast. But the move sent shudders through the nascent industry, as the line behind Vineyard Wind started to grow.

The industry was a little incredulous, Paradise said. It was hard not to see what was happening as political.

Among those hoping to move forward: Eversource and rsted, which recently disclosed three of their joint-venture projects had been delayed. Their South Fork project off Long Island wont go online until 2023, a year behind schedule, and their Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind projects south of Massachusetts wont meet their original connection targets of 2023 and 2024, either.

The only offshore wind farms built so far are small: rsteds five-turbine array off Block Island started spinning in 2016, and Dominion Energys two turbines off the coast of Virginia Beach were completed this past summer but are still awaiting a technical review at the BOEM.

Unlocking the pent-up demand for wind power could have significant consequences for Massachusetts. Several European operations set up corporate offices here in anticipation, including rsted (opened its Boston office in 2015, then known as DONG Energy), Vineyard Wind (an Iberdrola-Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners venture), Mayflower Wind (a venture funded by Shell, EDPR and Engie), and wind turbine manufacturer MHI Vestas. General Electric, another manufacturer, is headquartered here. And the state invested more than $100 million in New Bedford to build a terminal geared for offshore construction that Vineyard Wind and Mayflower plan to lease for their projects here.

Massachusetts once had first-mover advantage in the arms race for industry investment. In 2016, the Legislature authorized auctions of 1,600 megawatts of capacity to finance offshore wind farms; Vineyard Wind and Mayflower Wind eventually won contracts for that business. Another 1,600 megawatts could go out to bid over the next few years, and state lawmakers are considering adding more.

However, states such as New York and New Jersey have adopted even more aggressive targets in recent years and stand to reap the economic benefits. For example, the Norwegian company Equinor disclosed a proposal on Nov. 12 for a wind tower manufacturing plant at the Port of Albany on the Hudson River, to serve wind farms planned off Long Island.

Taken together, the various multibillion-dollar projects could support tens of thousands of jobs along the East Coast over the next decade.

Its an opportunity for a lot of capital to come into this space, for a lot of jobs to be created, said Peter Rothstein, president of the Northeast Clean Energy Council. Expediting doesnt mean its not going to be done in a careful and thoughtful process. But we should be able to get rid of the dragging of the feet at Interior.

The aggressive expansion has alarmed many in the fishing community who see their already precarious way of life endangered by these giant towers; Bernhardt, the Interior secretary, has cited the need to balance the interests of the fishing and wind industries.

Annie Hawkins, executive director of the fishing industry-backed Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, wants more emphasis on that balance. She notes the analysis commissioned by Bernhardt has the potential to benefit the wind industry in the long run, by mitigating future legal risks.

There are really a lot of steps that were skipped that we need to go back and get right, to make sure we are balancing both uses, Hawkins said. Wed be doing a lot better if we were doing this all together from day one.

The wind industry wont need to appease just fishermen under a Biden administration. Alicia Barton, who until recently led New Yorks clean-energy efforts, said Biden has made it clear that union labor, equity, and environmental justice should also be strong points of consideration.

Still, Barton remains optimistic these challenges can be overcome: Bidens 2035 goal for a carbon-free power sector is five years earlier than New Yorks, one of the most aggressive states in this regard.

Its inarguably ambitious, said Barton, who now runs FirstLight Power, a Burlington operator of hydroelectric, solar, and energy-storage plants. Offshore wind looms large as one of the biggest levers they can pull to make progress on their 2035 clean-electricity goal.

Jon Chesto can be reached at jon.chesto@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @jonchesto.

Read this article:

Bidens administration should charge up the offshore wind industry - BetaBoston

China seems to have unofficially banned Australian copper concentrate imports. Australia only accounts for 5% of Chinese concentrate imports, but Covid-related disruptions and labor action are plaguing South America. This is contributing to a strong surge in copper prices.

It is not just copper though. China's ambassador to Australia, Cheng Jingye, warned Australia six months ago its beef, students, tourists, and wine were susceptible to trade restrictions. Over the next six months, all these sectors were hit. Copper is a serious market, but not as important to Australia as iron ore or LNG. The trade restrictions are likely the result of an escalating disagreement over the origin of the coronavirus and how that should be mapped.

Now, I'm a big believer in copper over the next decade. But one potentially interesting way to position, given the geopolitical tensions here, is in bulk shipping. In general, I actually believe shipping is poised for a supercycle somewhere in the next three years. For more color, see my recent public write-ups on Dorian LPG (NYSE:LPG) and Euronav (NYSE:EURN).

When I recently went through the latest developments at Scorpio Bulkers (NYSE:SALT), it had my head spinning. At that time, just 14 days ago, the stock was at $12.59, which translates into a market cap of $150 million. As recently as June 2020, the company raised money at $18+ per share worth $83 million.

Data by YCharts

Scorpio Services Holding participated in the capital raise. August 2020, the company plunked down almost $300 million on an NG-16000X Wind Turbine Installation Vessel and a 1500 LEC crane to be used on the WTIV.

It turns out management plans to sell all of its bulkers and reinvest the proceeds into wind turbine installation vessels. Interestingly, it won't need to cough up meaningful payments until 2022.

That's when I went:

Really, I was flabbergasted. But I kept reading and tried to figure this out. In the end, this plan is so bad; it makes sense.

At first, I'm thinking, of course (in typical tanker space behavior), the company is dumping bulkers at the bottom of a multi-year bear market to invest in a hot growth industry without any competitive advantage that's growing at a 15% CAGR...

It's hard to come up with something that's ostensibly worse. This first crane vessel gets delivered to it in 2023.

The company justifies its transition by citing an unprecedented alignment of scientific, political, and commercial forces to accelerate plans worldwide to develop wind energy. The contract for this initial vessel gives it an option to order three more.

SALT isn't wasting time, but selling bulkers at a frantic pace:

Source: Company presentation

Make no mistake, I rarely hear a management team speak that is more committed and all-in on a transition:

Let me answer the last question. And there are a number of benefits we think of doing this. The first benefit is we can concentrate. We can completely focus. It's not quite as extreme as Cortes burning his boats when he arrived in America, but it's somewhere along that theme that you get the benefit of absolute focus that our future renewable shareholders really understand the commitment this company is making to that space to the future.

The company will do this, and I believe it will sell the bulkers to the last Ultramax. It is going to do it fast, too (which likely means it will give up value). Here the CEO is talking about the transition:

It's very, very difficult to manage responsibly, to maintain the quality and under environmental and safety risk if you are running down your operation over a long time and an indeterminate time. It's tough on internal morale. It's tough on operations. You have people who are wondering what they're going to do. You obviously reduce your commitment. So there are just so many advantages in terms of ripping the bandage off as opposed to just pulling it off generally.

Basically, the company had no answers on how it will sustain a competitive advantage as an offshore wind installer and couldn't articulate any particular present expertise that will help it succeed.

I'm not sure I like the plan. It sounds terrible to me, except that it is tailored to capitalize on current market trends that are likely to sustain and government policies going forward. Regulation on shipping is increasing to curb emissions. There's IMO 2020, but there will be IMO 2030, and there is a plethora of other less sweeping regulations.

Meanwhile, in finance, money is flowing towards passive investments and ESG. Shipping isn't really represented very well in either corner. That's why most companies pay through the nose for financing needs even though they are loaded with assets. The table below shows valuations for several bulker companies. Few companies trade as distressed as Scorpio Bulkers at 0.2x book value, but not one even trades at 50% of book value. If you put a dollar in this industry, you'll immediately lose half.

It is a very different story for Vestas Wind Systems (OTCPK:VWDRY), Broadwind (NASDAQ:BWEN), Siemens Renewable Energy (OTCPK:GCTAF), and Royal Boskalis (OTCPK:KKWFF).

The worst valuation is Boskalis, for which offshore wind is still a niche activity for now.

The company is clearly gunning to become a wind-energy pure-play if it gets rid of most of the bulkers and has a purchasing order in place for several installation vessels that could be sufficient to qualify it as a green or renewable energy company.

A lot of flows, as well as subsidies, are directed there. Read my Euronav article on how it is trying to green bond financing because it is more attractive. Meaning the costs of capital could decrease significantly for SALT.

Here are four key items from Biden's policy's on energy:

2) Work with Congress to enact in 2021, President Biden's first year in office, legislation that, by the end of his first term, puts us on an irreversible path to achieve economy-wide net-zero emissions no later than 2050. The legislation must require polluters to bear the full cost of the carbon pollution they are emitting.

3) Rally the world to be urgent and additional action. We know we cannot solve this emergency on our own: the United States accounts for only 15% of global emissions. On Day 1, Biden will rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement. But we must go further. In his first 100 days in office, Biden will convene a climate world summit to directly engage the leaders of the major greenhouse gas-emitting nations of the world to persuade them to join the United States in making more ambitious national pledges, above and beyond the commitments they have already made. Biden will not allow other nations, including China, to game the system by becoming destination economies for polluters, undermining our climate efforts, and exploiting American workers and businesses.

4) Make a historic investment in clean energy and innovation. Biden will invest $400 billion over ten years, as one part of a broad mobilization of public investment, in clean energy and innovation. That investment is twice the investment of the Apollo program, which put a man on the moon, in today's dollars. He will also establish ARPA-C, a new research agency focused on accelerating climate technologies.

5) Accelerate the deployment of clean technology throughout our economy. Creating the best, most innovative clean technology in the world is not enough. We also need to make sure it is used by households and industry to achieve aggressive emissions reductions. Biden will set a target of reducing the carbon footprint of the U.S. building stock 50% by 2035, creating incentives for deep retrofits that combine appliance electrification, efficiency, and on-site clean power generation. He will work with our nation's governors and mayors to support the deployment of more than 500,000 new public charging outlets by the end of 2030. And, Biden will ensure our agricultural sector is the first in the world to achieve net-zero emissions, and that our farmers earn income as we meet this milestone.

This is another considerable tailwind that just materialized, and SALT is going to try and surf it. Increasingly, whole business models are built on this trend; see my recent article on sustainable infrastructure.

If I look at the company's balance sheet, I see $675 million in liabilities, there is $68 million in cash, $20 million in receivables, $7 million prepaid, and then $1.3 billion in vessels. The bottom line is the company trades at 0.2x book value.

I know, I don't buy the vessel values either.

Here's a list of the company's owned vessels:

Value estimate mil$

It adds up to $980 million in value.

When I add all the values up and subtract full liabilities, I get $400 million or $33.5 per share. That's almost a 3x from where the company trades at now. But given industry multiples, the company won't ever be valued at that range.

If I take the billion in vessel value, sell these, and acquire three more turbine installation vessels, its transition is complete. Because it is moving fast, I'd expect SALT to lose value in this transition. Maybe it ends up with $800 million in installation vessels. That's a big hit to the equity value.

Book value could decrease to ~$17 per share. But with its transition complete, the company is likely to trade at a premium to book and be viewed as part of a growing green industry. It if trades at 1.5x book, it would be worth $25.5 per share.

If the company trades at a premium to book, it can issue shares and use the proceeds to buy more installation vessels at book value. This sets off a virtuous cycle of growing revenue, growing earnings, and increasing the ability to tap the green financing market (the REIT game).

I can imagine the company could try to capture the aftermarket service contracts for these wind turbines. Obviously, these things will break down and need maintenance and inspections from time to time. Some can be done at sea, but there is likely a continuous need to transport turbines.

If this becomes a recurring reliable income stream, the company will attract a high earnings multiple, which is even more attractive.

It is a somewhat cynical view, but I believe a chain of economically illogical actions will lead to a significant re-rating of this stock. If you ask me, a far superior plan would be if the company were to sell these bulkers and use the proceeds to hoover up its own stock. Merely selling a significant number of bulkers at reasonable prices should alert the market that the gap between share price and real book value is too large.

The company's approach is riskier, but if ESG continues to grow and Scorpio Bulkers can position itself to capture these flows, I think there is a real chance shares will 3x from here. There's a chance for sustained, long-term value creation (which would be absent in my favorite approach).

Did you like this article? Check out the Special Situation Investing report. My best shipping ideas are unknown small and microcaps in this space.

These don't do exactly straight up shipping and don't show up on most shipping screeners. Earnings are still going to skyrocket if there's a shipping supercycle and they are dirt cheap.

My single largest position (by some margin) has insiders buying while the shipping market is stalling. Even better recently it bought back 7% of its shares in the span of days.

Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, but may initiate a long position in SALT over the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Read the rest here:

Scorpio Bulkers: Developing Opportunity In Offshore Wind Installations - Seeking Alpha

By Ugur Yilmaz on 11/22/2020

(Bloomberg) --President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on the European Union to keep its promises to Turkey and avoid discrimination as the threat of EU sanctions looms over the country.

We see ourselves in Europe, not anywhere else, and we want to build our future with Europe, Erdogan said Saturday in a video conference during his ruling Justice and Development Partys regular provincial congress. We want to be in stronger cooperation with our friends and allies.

Earlier this week, the EUs foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said Turkey isnt sending positive signals and needs to change its attitude fundamentally regarding the hydrocarbon dispute with EU members Greece and Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea.

Turkish Cypriots and Cyprus have been at loggerheads over offshore gas reserves in disputed waters. Cyprus has been pushing other EU states to expand a blacklist against Turkey over its natural-gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean. Other governments including Germany were wary of provoking Turkey.

We believe that we dont have any problem with any country or institution that we cannot solve with diplomacy and dialogue, Erdogan said a week after a visit to northern Cyprus. We have been keeping diplomatic channels open and we will continue to do so.

European leaders will discuss the future of EU-Turkey relations at their summit in December, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday. When asked by a reporter about recent tensions between Turkey and EU members, Merkel said they will watch for developments in the next couple of weeks before discussing any potential sanctions.

Here is the original post:

Turkey wants to keep EU ties, despite sanction threat over offshore drilling - WorldOil

Angela Carter's new book looks at the oil and gas sectors in Newfoundland and Labrador, Alberta and Saskatchewan, and what lies ahead for each in a world transitioning away from fossil fuels. (Submitted by Angela Carter)

Newfoundland and Labrador needs to chart a future away from its offshore oil industryto avoid a "chaotic crash out,"says the author of a new book about Canada's oil-producing provinces that sounds alarm bells about what lies ahead.

Fossilized: Environmental Policy in Canada's Petro-Provincesdissects Alberta's, Saskatchewan's and N.L.'s oil and gasindustries, with author Angela Carter a Newfoundlander whose father worked in the offshore examining their environmental track records and looking at how prepared, ornot, those provincesare for a worldrapidly shifting towardgreener priorities.

"We've got to make a plan for managing the wind down of the sector. If we don't create a managed decline plan, we are going to have a chaotic crash out,and it's going to be really painful for the people in this province, and the governments that we're depending on to try to bring us services," Carter said in a recentinterview with CBC Radio's On The Go.

In many ways, chaos has defined the sector's past year, with2020 feeling like a constant scramble to find footing on a storm-slicked ship's deck.

There's been a global price war, pandemic-related upheaval, layoffs and stalled projects. As awful as 2020 has been,the year's unpredictabilitycould be a harbinger of what's to come for the offshore, warnsCarter.

"The coming decade is likely to be very difficult," Carter writes in her book.

Carter, a University of Waterloo professor originally from Conception Bay South, splits her time between Newfoundland and Ontario. Several of her family members work in the oil industry, and shededicated Fossilized to her father, who was a pipefitter in the offshore and helped build the Terra Nova platform.

That vessel went into service in 2002, and 18 years on, a lot has changed.

Speaking to CBC, she said the time is nowto take a hard look in the mirror, as economic and environmental signs grow ever stronger of a swifter shift away from fossil fuel production.

"We have based our economy and we've staked our future on an industry that is no longer consistent with climate stability. We are at a really risky place right now," she said.

While thoughts of transitionmay be trickling into the provincial government's consciousness and we'll get to that the offshoreoil industry, as Carter points out, has had overwhelming public sector support, despite strong signals elsewhere of changes ahead.

Take 1997, for example.

The Hibernia platform'sproduction began to great fanfare in November of that year complete with toasts and streamers the day oil first flowed. That came just weeks before the Kyoto Protocol dominated global headlines with its signing on Dec.11. (Canada signed on, and later dropped out of, the Kyotoagreement to reduce CO2 emissions.)

"This is really telling and I think it's really important to think about that, that moment," Carter said of the offshore's kickoffjust ascountries began to attempt collective action against climate change.

VIDEO: From 1997, see how the 'first oil' discovery at Hibernia was celebrated in St. John's:

In the years following, oil revenue buoyedprovincial coffers and signs of prosperity popped up, from new restaurants to infrastructure investmentsto the coveted status in 2008 as a "have" province that is, joining the ranks of provinces that no longer received equalization payments.

While the cash rushed in, Carter says it's been a trickle compared to other jurisdictions' royalties.

"This is very complex and economists themselves will argue over this. But Newfoundland and Labrador, when you compare what our take is what we get out of the sector compared to other countries, and Norway is a premier example it is much less," she told CBC, pointing to statistics that show Norway earns as much as 72 per cent of the value of its extraction efforts, compared to N.L.'s 16 per cent.

The initial boom's blush has certainly faded, but one thing has been a constant: Carter saysoffshore environmental initiatives to regulate the offshore were, and are, slim.

Theword "dearth"comes up a lot in her writing about the provincialand industry environmental policies, from a"dearth of protections for marine areas," to a "dearth of environmental expertise" on the industry regulator's payroll, the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB).

Carter notes between 2005 and 2015, "Newfoundland had the largest share of emissions originating from large industry" among the provinces,and that provincial emissions policy was crafted "in close, frequent consultation" with industry players.

Newfoundland and Labrador'soil is often touted as being one of the least carbon-intensive in the world a metric that looks at the amount of emissions createdjust to bring it to market a claim that stands up in scientific analysis.

So, industry and politicians argue, it should continue to be sucked up from beneath the ocean's floor and sold as the world transitions, even as all three of the province's parties pledge to reduce emissions (a pledge that excludes the offshore's contributions to the atmosphere.)

The desire to develop disregards volumes of information from scientistsabout how the majorityof the Earth's fossil fuels needto stay in the ground to keep global temperatures from rising beyond a point of no return, she says.

"This is a really, really hard message for oil-producing places like Newfoundland and Labrador," Carter said, adding this message about extractionis circulating globally.

"Two thirds of the reserves that we know were out there, we cannot extract them. We definitely need to stop looking for more."

If that environmental message is hard, the economic one may be even harder.

In 2019, the province pledged to doubleoffshore production by 2030 and get into the natural gas game. But even before the halfway mark of 2020 hit, a top oil exec said that 2030 goal was "extremely jeopardized" by recent events.Just weeks ago, with 17 exploration bids up for grabs, only one was claimed, creating disappointment in the local industry.

"They are trying to hold on to their right to extract. But all of the justifications for doing so are being undermined, and radically so, actually, by the month," said Carter.

The interest isn't just dwindling in North Atlantic oil 2020 is the most dismal year on record for Alberta oilpatch drilling.

And that isn't all due toenvironmentalpressures on the industry, as the world of finance shows increasing distaste for fossil fuels: BlackRock, the world's largest asset firm that manages $7-trillion in funds, announced at the start of 2020it was pulling out of coal investments and would use climate change to dictate decisions going forward.

Why? Clients are asking for it.

"We are at a really new moment in human history," said Carter.

BlackRock's is a big move, but it isn't the first, nor the last.With a change in leadership in the United States signalling a shift toward more climate-friendly policies, Carter says there's more change to come.

"The question then for Newfoundland and Labrador is, are we going to be a part of this great global transition away from fossil fuels toward low carbon and green energy? Or are we going to be left behind and not able to keep up with what's happening in the world around us?" she said.

LISTEN | Political scientistAngela Carter outlines her thinking toCBC Radio's Ted Blades:

On The Go22:16"Fossilized: Environmental Policy in Canada's Petro Provinces"

Those questions are on others' minds, like those at the Newfoundland and Labrador Environmental Industry Association (NEIA) who areworking to grow a green economy in Newfoundland and Labrador.

But the head of that non-profit group said there are huge opportunities with hydroelectricity and other renewable energy sources if transmission out of the province can be improved, perhaps via the Atlantic Loop concept that the federal governmentis floatingbut realistically,offshore oil needs to be part of the transitionconversation.

"Ithink that to close the door on any one industry would be irresponsible," said Kieran Hanley, NEIA's executive director.

Hanleynotesthe offshore has innovated to reduce its carbon footprint, and his group has worked with the industry on such initiatives as a recent knowledge-gathering tripto Norway to keep tabs on initiatives that might be applied back home.

"I think that everyone has a role to play as we pursue emissions reductions. And the mix of skills, resources and capital that exists in oil and gas are really such a benefit as we look to other industries that we want to develop in pursuit of that energy transition," he told CBC News.

The capital that Hanley describes is keyina province where the words "cash-strapped" hardly do justice to Newfoundland and Labrador's fiscal problems.

We're staring downa near-record deficit set for 2020, the pandemic has decimated tourism and other economic engines, and oil revenues continue to provide30 per cent of the GDP, playing a major role in keeping us barely afloat.

Added on top is the pain of layoffs in the offshore sector, with people losing high-paying jobs they trained forand hoped would provide long-term stability in a province whereso many have had to go elsewhere.

"It's gut-wrenching, what's happening," said Carter.

Takeoil industry arguments that it's a job creator with a grain of salt, she said, as between 2014 and 2019, it shed a quarter of its jobs, Canada-wide.

"In good times, workers are considered costs to be shed by companies to save money. Where the industry can automate, they will in every case, prefer to have a machine than a worker," she said.

But well-trained workers are an asset,and as Memorial University and the College of the North Atlantic have honed programs to support the offshore, so too she says could they pivot to retraining programs and green economies.

"Since the 1960s, we've been giving public money to the oil and gas sector. Now we need to turn all of that effort and that money towards a green and just transition," she said.

This has been happening elsewhere for years, Carter argues, and it's time to play catchup.

"We could have been doing that, but we haven't. So now we are a little bit late to the party, but we still have an opportunity here," she said.

Carter urges the premier's economic task force, an initiative announced thisfall, to consider that opportunity.

There are signals that that committee may be up to the task. Its membership includes entrepreneurial heavyweights like Verafin CEO Brendan Brothersand Shorefast Foundation CEO Zita Cobb, who represent successful innovation in the tech and sustainability sectors, respectively. (Verafin's success wasaffirmedlast week ina multi-billion dollar acquisition by Nasqaq.)

Moya Greene, who chairs the task force,spokepublicly in early November about the need to transition,and swifter than we have in the past.

While the province can do its part to enable innovation, NEIAsees people and private industry like Mysa, the smart-thermostat company based in St. John's that has become another clean tech success story, as well as the province's first carbon-neutral business leading the charge for change.

"I think that's what's going to fuel the transition. It's people who are able, and willing to do, what is required to move the needle," Hanley said.

But the raw materials are there, Hanley said, with ample natural renewable resources that could provide a template for the rest of the country, if taken advantage of.

"What we do here tells the story of Canada's approach to energy transition," he said.

Both Hanley and Carter agree any departure from fossil fuels will take planning, and time.

That's something scientists warn is in short supply.

Report after scientific report shows an increasingly warming world within most people's lifetimes,such as one released in Septemberthat foundthe globe may exceed a temperature limit global leaders setsooner than expected within the next decade or so adding another layer of urgency to the challenges that lie ahead for this little province in the North Atlantic.

Read more articles from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador

See the original post:

N.L. has to wean itself off the offshore, and it must start soon, says author - CBC.ca

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction has signed a memorandum of understanding with Korea South-East Power Company (KOEN) for the promotion of offshore wind projects in South Korea.

The two companies agreed to cooperate on offshore wind farm projects with a combined capacity of 2 GW being developed by KOEN in Gyeongin, Southwestern regions, and Jeju island, as well as on the development of megawatt-class floating offshore wind power systems and complexes.

Doosan and KOEN also agreed to engage in technology exchanges for the commercialization of an 8 MW offshore wind turbine, a national project being executed by Doosan as the main contractor.

According to Doosan, KOEN has the most extensive business plan for wind power in terms of the planned capacity of all the South Korean developers.

In 2017, KOEN completed the construction of the 30 MW Tamra offshore wind farm, Koreas first commercial offshore wind farm, which was achieved via joint collaboration with Doosan.

This MOU should enable us to commercialize domestic offshore wind turbines by securing large-scale references. We will cooperate with KOEN to revitalize the wind power industry in Korea to keep ourselves aligned with the Korean governments Green New Deal policy, said Inwon Park, CEO of Doosan Heavys Plant EPC Business Group.

Doosan developed Koreas first 3 MW offshore wind turbine and received international certification for it in 2011, followed by another international certification for its 5.5 MW offshore wind turbine in July last year.

The company plans to commercialize the 8 MW offshore wind turbine, the largest wind turbine to date in Korea, by 2022.

According to Doosan, the products differentiating feature will be the turbine blade, which is to be optimally designed to the maximum possible length for increased efficiency and created in a way to suit the wind conditions in Korea.

See the original post here:

Doosan and KOEN to Jointly Tackle Korean Offshore Wind Projects - Offshore WIND