Category Archives: Offshore

BOSTON (CBS) In the world of wind, there are gentle breezes and full-fledged gales. A project developing south of Marthas Vineyard is the latter. After years upon years of exploring and attempting to tap New Englands potent offshore wind, Vineyard Wind is one federal permit away from building the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm in the United States.

Lars Pedersen, CEO of Vineyard Wind, calls our offshore region, the Saudi Arabia of offshore wind because of the extremely consistent nature of the wind here. Not just big storms that were famous for, but everyday wind without many quiet seasons. His company is poised to become the first to harness some of that power.

Vineyard Wind project (WBZ-TV)

The project is set to be constructed 15 miles south of Marthas Vineyard, which contrasts with the failed Cape Wind proposal which was sited in Nantucket Sound between Cape Cod, Marthas Vineyard, and Nantucket. A major point of contention with Cape Wind was from homeowners against having turbines in their every day view, and the Nantucket Sound position would have been in sight of many more eyeballs.

While farther offshore, the 62 turbines will be massive. The blades, manufactured by General Electric, are the largest in the world. Each one is longer than a football field, and Pedersen says that just two spins of one blade can power a house for an entire day. The 62 together, working at full capacity, will provide enough energy to power 400,000 homes. Cables laid several feet under the sea floor will travel north to Cape Cod, where they will meet the land at Covells Beach in Barnstable and enter the New England power grid.

Moving farther out was one piece of the puzzle to get the project green lighted, but another concern came from local fishermen. To create safer shipping lanes, the turbines will be spaced farther apart than any others on earth, a full nautical mile between each one.

Up to this point, wind energy progress has been extremely slow. There are only seven wind turbines located in federal waters across the entire U.S. But when looking for successful sites, there are few more lucrative than the waters just off the Mid-Atlantic and New England. Three reasons make it a target for offshore wind developers. The consistent wind that keeps turbines spinning, the shallow waters that make it easier to build, and the large population nearby to supply electricity to.

Companies like Vineyard Wind hope that this will be the first of many projects over the next several years. Pedersen says its as much of a jobs initiative as it is about producing renewable energy.

Revitalizing ports, manufacturing jobs, we see this as the first of many steps in building an industry, he told WBZ-TV.

Lars Pedersen, CEO of Vineyard Wind (WBZ-TV)

To that end, Massachusetts Maritime Academy is planning on helping anyone tied to this growing sector. A course taught at the academy can certify anyone doing offshore work, and that certification is recognized internationally.

Captain Michael Burns told WBZ that theres an unmistakable momentum in the offshore wind field, and that it will require a diverse group of people.

Obviously, folks involved in the construction, scientific personnel studying marine life, as well as offshore wind technicians doing the operation and maintenance once everythings constructed, he said.

Burns mentioned the importance of safety on the open water, and that some will be trying it for the first time.

These are extremely isolated environments, said Burns, and they have to be very well trained and know how to rescue each other if they do get in trouble.

All local and state permits have been approved for the project after four years of review, and that final piece, called a record of decision, is expected in a matter of weeks. If that is received, financing will be shored up and Vineyard Wind hopes to begin construction on land by the end of this year.

The hub for Vineyard Wind will become the Marine Commerce Terminal in New Bedford.

I was born in Denmark, the land of Legos, said Pedersen. So the Lego pieces will come in. Lots of people doing construction, cranes, transport, moving it all onto barges so it can be moved to vessels offshore and be installed.

From there, offshore work would begin in 2022, with the first energy produced hitting the New England power grid in 2023. The Biden administration has set a goal of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030, which would require roughly 30 similar projects over the decade.

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First Major U.S. Offshore Wind Farm Set To Be Built Off Marthas Vineyard - CBS Dallas / Fort Worth

Two wind turbines, each as tall as the Washington Monument, stand sentinel 27 miles off the coast of Virginia, the nations first offshore wind installation in federal waters.

The pilot project began producing power last October but is just the beginning for an industry poised for massive growth over the next decade including in Maryland. Longtime conflicts with the fishing industry remain, as well as some landowners, but with the help of a major push from the Biden administration, offshore wind may finally advance in the Atlantic.

Dominion Energy, Virginias state utility, plans to install nearly 200 more ocean turbines east of Cape Henry over the next five years. And developers have permits pending for 10 more offshore wind projects along the East Coast, from North Carolina to Maine.

The Biden administration wants to buoy the industry. Last month,the administration announceda $3 billion plan to expand offshore wind.

The ambitious goal is to generate 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by the end of the decade,enough to power more than 10 million homes and cut 78 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Thats roughly the carbon equivalent of taking 17 million cars off the road for a year.

Offshore wind represents an opportunity for the Biden administration to address two major goals: reducing carbon emissions and creating jobs.

Nowhere is the scale of that opportunity clearer than for offshore wind, National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy said in announcing the new plan.

The projects could support tens of thousands of jobs, from maintenance at sea to steel production far inland.

There is just one other offshore wind project currently online in the United States: five turbines in state waters off the coast of Block Island, R.I.

The industry has more proposals in the works, including two off the shores of Ocean City.

One is US Wind Maryland, a 270 megawatt farm planned 17 miles offshore. The other is Skipjack Wind Farm, a 120 megawatt farm off the coast of Delaware to the Maryland state line. Danish company rsteds plans for the site include 10 wind turbines.

U.S. Wind Maryland and Skipjack are each close to Ocean City and come under the purview of the Maryland Public Service Commission and the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. Both projects are slated for completion in 2024 but still have reviews and approvals pending.

Ocean City officials have supported clean energy from offshore wind, with caveats. The towns concern has been the size and proximity of the turbines. They want it to be green and unseen, and have launched several lobbying campaigns to stall or defeat the projects.

Last year, rsted agreed to reduce the number of turbines and move them from 19 miles offshore to 22 miles offshore a victory for Ocean City. The bigger concern for the coastal city now lies with US Winds project, which could place turbines that are taller than the Washington Monument 17 miles from shore. The Maryland Public Service Commission has not yet approved the taller turbines though it did approve taller turbines for the Skipjack project last summer. Ocean City officials are pushing for the company to site the turbines more than 20 miles offshore, which would require BOEM to open a new lease area.

Together, the two offshore wind projects could create nearly 4,000 jobs during development and construction and another 4,000 jobs during operation, according to estimates from rsted and US Wind. The two companies also plan to invest nearly $100 million in facility upgrades, ports and fabrication facilities in Maryland, which could bolster the state as a regional hub for offshore wind construction. rsted has said it will assemble the turbines at the old Sparrows Point steel plant in Baltimore County.

As part of the Biden administrations rollout of policies to support offshore wind, rsted agreed to share ocean mapping and other data it collects with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Two other major wind projects are also on tap for the Atlantic: A research project floating turbine in Maine and North Carolinas Kitty Hawk Wind Energy Area, 27 miles off the coast of the Outer Banks.

This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity, said Laura Morton of the American Clean Power Association, an industry group. We can provide clean energy, slash carbon emissions and create jobs.

It is unprecedented

The administrations announcement represents a significant turning point for the nascent offshore wind industry.

Representatives from the White House and four federal agencies Interior, Commerce, Transportation and Energy rolled out programs to support offshore wind.

Among other things, the administration said it would speed permits for projects along the East Coast, invest in research and development, offer federal loan guarantees for offshore wind development, and invest in port improvements around the country to make it easier to build new offshore wind facilities.

It is unprecedented and shows a recognition of how complex offshore wind is, and that it takes a lot of pieces to come together to make it work, said Catherine Bowes, program director for offshore wind for the National Wildlife Federation.

The National Wildlife Federation, like many other environmental groups, supports offshore wind for its unique potential to provide massive amounts of clean power.

We truly dont believe that we can meet the climate and energy goals that both people and wildlife need without responsible offshore wind, Bowes said.

Europe erected the first offshore wind turbines 20 years ago and is the world leader in offshore wind. The industry has been slower to get off the ground in the United States, where it has faced regulatory hurdles and opposition from the fishing industry and some onshore landowners.

The first attempt at offshore wind in the United States was mired in conflict.

Developers gave up on the Cape Wind project in 2017, after multiple lawsuits and years of back-and-forth on permitting and plans. The project in tony Nantucket Sound off Massachusetts met opposition from high-profile homeowners nearby, including members of the Kennedy family and businessman William Koch, a rare alliance.

The Obama administration promoted offshore wind as part of its climate plan, but did not coordinate programs among agencies to support the industry. Many pending permits sat in the doldrums during the Trump administration, which did not prioritize renewable energy.

Biden administration officials say they will expedite the regulatory process. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management committed to review at least 16 construction and operations plans for pending projects by 2025 and advance new lease sales.

Shift in the political winds

Several key factors make offshore wind more viable now than ever before.

The development of bigger, more efficient turbines means that offshore wind can produce more energy at lower prices. New technology also allows for development farther offshore, capitalizing on stronger winds and reducing some of the conflicts with coastal communities and wildlife.

And states are increasingly looking offshore as an economic and environmental windfall.

Last fall, Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) and his counterparts in Virginia and North Carolina signed a joint memorandum of understandingto work together as a three-state hub for offshore wind energyan attempt to create an attractive environment for business investment and compete with the Northeasts market.

In North Carolina, the states Department of Commerce commissioned areport, released in March, that said the states manufacturers could profit from the rapidly developing market for offshore wind. The analysis estimated a $100 billion market for development and construction alone.

The existing projects in the United States have partly relied on European ships and manufacturers. But as the industry grows, it could spur manufacturing that stretches into Americas heartland.

For example, Virginias Dominion Energy is building the firstU.S.-made vessel to install offshore wind turbines. Domestic steel operations in Alabama and West Virginia are shipping steel to a Texas shipyard to build the vessel.

Worries about marine life, fishing

But offshore wind has not yet resolved conflicts with the longest-standing industry of the sea: fishing.

As state and federal leaders push for more offshore development, fishing groups have concerns with both the process and the implementation.

They are worried the projects could affect marine life. And they argue regulators have not included them in a meaningful way when developing plansespecially because one offshore wind project can affect fishing for boats that might not be based at ports nearby.

We need to mitigate impacts to fishing, and essentially fishing concerns have been completely ignored. We are still in the exact same place, asking for the things we have been asking for the last 10 years, said Annie Hawkins, executive director of the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, a broad coalition of fishing groups from all over the U.S.

For example, the captains from five boats that fish for black sea bass and conch sent aletterto Dominion Energy asking the company to limit construction during certain times that are key for the fishery, collect more baseline data, and commit to compensation when fishing is closed.

Nowhere is the conflict more pronounced than in Maine, where fishing and lobster boats circled around a proposed research area in protest in March.

Gov. Janet Mills (D) has tried to walk the line on the issue. She is counting on offshore wind to help Maine meet climate mitigation goals. But in response to the pushback, she proposed a 10-year moratorium on wind projects in state waters in January. She still supports projects in federal waters, further offshore.

Supporters of the industry say it is possible to design projects with consideration for fishing interests.

By far the biggest threat to ocean life is climate change, and the trajectory we are on now is almost inconceivably damaging to the ocean. said Miriam Goldstein, director of Ocean Policy at the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress.

The wind resources off the coast and near population centersthat is an opportunity I dont believe we can overlook. Deploying that in a smart way, with fishermen at the table, is among the most important things we can do to address the climate emergency.

And in Maryland, the Ocean City council has raised concerns that the two proposed wind projects could affect the horseshoe crab population a key part of the ecosystem. Horseshoe crabs are a food source for endangered birds and a major source of income for fishermen, who sell them for use in the medical industry, including for vaccines.

Congressional action

Congress is also getting in on the action.Lawmakers on Capitol Hill introduced three different offshore wind bills this year.

Offshore wind is part of large green energy tax incentivelegislationfrom Democrats. Another more targeted offshore windproposalwould create career training grants for colleges or labor organization.

Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.), whose Hampton Roads district could see new jobs and development from Dominions offshore project, also announced the creation of a Congressional Offshore Wind Caucus last month.

Increasing offshore wind production so that we can create high-paying clean energy jobs and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels shouldnt be a partisan issue, Luria said in an email this week. Offshore wind is critical to strengthening our economy and improving the environment.

[emailprotected]

Allison Winter is a freelance reporter based in Washington, D.C. Josh Kurtz of Maryland Matters contributed to this report.

Link:

Biden Banks on Md. Offshore Wind Projects to Help Curb Climate Change Maryland Matters - Josh Kurtz

Recycling the FPSO Berge Helene in compliance with Hong Kong Convention

BW Offshore has signed an agreement to dispose of the FPSO Berge Helene for environmentally safe demolition and recycling in compliance with the Hong Kong Convention at Priya Blue shipyard in India.

The FPSO Berge Helene (IMO 7360083) is a floating storage/production unit of 274,333 deadweight-ton capacity built in France in 1976 and converted to an FPSO in Singapore in 2005. The vessel is 372 meters long, 52 meters wide and has a depth of 27.4 meters. It is flagged and registered in Singapore, classed by DNV GL and has been in lay-up in Singapore since August 2018.

The vessel is sold for a cash consideration of approximately USD 16 million.

The recycling yard is certified to ISO standards and has been issued with a Statement of Compliance by Class NK in accordance with the IMO Resolution MEPC.210(63) and the Hong Kong International Convention for the safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships. The recycling yard will provide a Statement of Completion of the recycling in accordance with the Hong Kong Convention.

The company has nominated Grieg Green as representatives to be on site at the recycling yard to monitor progress, compliance with environmental and safety regulations and that the ship recycling plan is being applied. A recycling plan has been prepared and provided by the yard in corporation with Grieg Green to ensure strict compliance with the above regulations. To ensure and incentivise safe recycling in this respect, the company will pay a safe recycling bonus upon completion.

For further information, please contact:Stle Andreassen, CFO, +65 97 27 86 47Anders S. Platou, Head of Corporate Finance, +47 99 50 47 40

IR@bwoffshore.com or http://www.bwoffshore.com

About BW Offshore:BW Offshore engineers innovative floating production solutions. The Company has a fleet of 15 FPSOs with potential and ambition to grow. By leveraging four decades of offshore operations and project execution, the Company creates tailored offshore energy solutions for evolving markets world-wide. BW Offshore has around 2,000 employees and is publicly listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange.

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

Excerpt from:

BW Offshore: Recycling the FPSO Berge Helene in compliance with Hong Kong Convention - GlobeNewswire

Fugro has been awarded contracts in the offshore wind sector in South Korea and the U.S., according to the companys results for the first quarter of 2021.

In South Korea, Fugro has won a contract for a site investigation programme for a floating offshore wind farm. The company did not disclose any further details about the project. The contract in the U.S. is for unexploded ordnance (UXO) investigation at rsteds South Fork Wind Farm project site offshore Rhode Island.

The Netherlands-headquartered company entered the South Korean offshore wind market in 2019 after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Underwater Survey Technology 21 (UST21). Under the agreement, Fugro has expanded UST21s local hydrography capacity to provide site characterisation services, including geotechnical, geophysical and offshore metocean solutions for the offshore wind market.

In the U.S., the company has already been working with rsted. Last year, Fugro begun a site characterisation programme at the Sunrise Wind offshore wind project off the coast of New York, one of three U.S. projects developed by rsted and Eversource Energy, the other two being South Fork Wind Farm and Revolution Wind.

For the Americas region, Fugro reported backlog increase due to increasing work in offshore wind on the East Coast of the U.S. and marine asset integrity activities in the country, as well as the ROV support vessel contract work in Brazil.

In the companys global Marine business segment, backlog declined slightly as an increase in site characterisation caused by growth in offshore wind was offset by a decline in asset integrity, which is more exposed to the oil and gas market, according to the company.

Fugro reported a revenue decline of 17.2 per cent in the first quarter of this year, fully driven by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and a strong related decline in oil and gas activities, partly offset by revenue growth in other market segments.

This quarter, our revenue was again strongly affected by the pandemic and the related decline in oil and gas activity levels. This is evident in comparison with the first quarter of 2020, when the initial Covid impact became visible only towards the end of the quarter, said Mark Heine, CEO at Fugro. At the same time, our results demonstrate once again our resilient operating model and increasingly diversified portfolio, with an increasing revenue share from renewables, infrastructure and nautical activities.

Looking ahead, the company stated that offshore wind was anticipated to show continued growth in 2021. In the oil and gas market, there are early signs of a recovery, Fugro said, adding that this was to a certain extent dependent on the further development and impact of the pandemic on the society and economy. The company expects a return to revenue growth, in particular in renewables, in the course of the second quarter.

We were able to slightly improve our margin in the seasonally weak first quarter. This was largely due to the comprehensive cost reduction programme which was initiated immediately after the outbreak of the pandemic and which is now fully effective, Mark Heine said. Based on the good order intake this quarter, we anticipate that revenue will start to grow again in the second quarter.

Excerpt from:

Fugro Bags Offshore Wind Contracts in South Korea and US - Offshore WIND

Onboarding and supporting remote or contract positions comes with unique logistical challenges. Here's how to prepare.

In 2020, organizations around the globe transitioned to remote work. While some companies have started to bring employees back to the traditional office, others have made long-term commitments to telecommuting moving forward. At the same time, many companies routinely use offshore and contract talent to supplement their on-site teams and enable 24/7 operations. These four TechRepublic Premium resources are designed to empower organizations with the tools, tips, and policies in the age of remote, offshore and contract work en masse.

The remote work era is an ideal environment for bringing on abroad professionals. Many companies tap offshore talent to support on-site workforces and enable round-the-clock business operations. TechRepublic Premium's Offshore work policy is designed to help companies set guidelines for these new teams, deliver an optimal orientation experience,

outline vetting considerations for prospective vendors and more. Aside from minimum account access, this policy also illustrates other security details such as VPN access and operational environment standardizations.

Contractor workers are another popular supplement workforce option for companies and, similar to offshore workers, contract positions are also ripe for the WFH era. TechRepublic Premium's Contract work policy provides performance review recommendations, account access parameters as well as information to help companies train and onboard new contractors. Additionally, the resource details considerations to bear in mind when utilizing recruiting agencies to identify and hire contractor workers.

Onboarding remote employees comes with its own set of challenges compared to the traditional in-person process. This TechRepublic Premium resource is specifically curated to streamline the remote onboarding process with a series of helpful and succinct tips to boot. These include creating dedicated checklists to encourage uniformity in the process and ensure steps are followed accordingly.

Has a member of the team established the remote employee's email account and proactively checked these credentials? That said, these steps also focus on creating account access and testing equipment before start dates, assigning direct HR onboarding contacts and more.

In recent years, organizations have warmed to remote work for myriad reasons, and the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated adoption across industries; at least in the interim. This wide-ranging resource details recent surveys illustrating employee sentiments about remote work, when the in-person office could be "obsolete," and more.

This policy also outlines tips to help with the remote job search, boost interview performance, and empower telecommuters to "thrive" in their new remote roles. Which remote positions are paying telecommuters a premium salary? This resource includes answers that may surprise you and much more.

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Resources to empower organizations in the age of remote, offshore and contract work - TechRepublic

TOKYO -- General Electric, fresh off becoming the first company to win international certification for large offshore wind turbines capable of withstanding typhoons, intends to install the generators off the coasts of Japan and other countries, Nikkei has learned.

The stronger turbines are also expected to expedite the industry's push into Asia, which is more prone than Europe to violent storms.

Construction of three projects in the U.K. and the U.S. has already been planned, with expectations they can start operating between 2022 and 2024.

In Japan, GE seeks to install the turbines off the coasts of Akita Prefecture, in the northeast, and Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo. Bidding for these projects is set to close in May.

GE's intended rollout comes with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga setting a 2030 target for cutting Japan's emissions by 46% from 2013 levels. Suga announced the plan at the virtual climate summit hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday in an effort to accelerate a push into renewable energy.

The U.S. company's stormproof turbines could prompt power producers to consider installing them in areas prone to harsh weather, including typhoons, and help drive the use of offshore wind power.

GE's turbines are 248 meters tall and put out 12,000 kilowatts. Under the International Electrotechnical Commission's classification, the turbines will be certified as T-Class, for products capable of handling elevated extreme wind speeds in hurricane conditions.

T-Class was established by the IEC in 2019. Previously, the highest level of certification was Class 1, which assumes an average wind speed of up to 50 meters per second for 10 minutes. T-Class requires a design that can withstand winds blowing up to 57 meters per second.

According to the IEC, 57 mps -- about 205 kph -- is the maximum wind speed that can occur within the next 50 years.

GE incorporated a structure that automatically adjusts the direction of the wind turbine in response to gusts of wind and reduces wind pressure.

The company applied technology that is used in onshore wind power generators while also strengthening the parts and components used to build the contraptions so they can withstand strong winds.

GE conducted a yearlong test run off the coast of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, finding that its new turbines operated without any issues even under strong winds.

Although manufacturing costs will be 15% to 20% higher than those for previous models, GE believes demand for the product will be robust since the windmills can be used in seas that are inhospitable to conventional mills.

Most offshore turbines are installed in the North Sea of Europe, where westerly winds tend to blow stably. However, there is little remaining room for additional installations, which has more companies looking to Asia, where typhoons and air turbulence are more likely to occur.

Japan intends to expand its installed offshore wind power capacity to 10 gigawatts by 2030. By that same year, the World Wind Energy Association estimates that 41% of all global wind power generation will be installed in Asia.

GE is a major player in the market for onshore wind turbines. Offshore, Spain's Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy and Denmark's Vestas together account for 55% of the market. A GE subsidiary accounts for about 4% of the market, with China's Sewind Shanghai taking 10%.

GE hopes that receiving the T-Class certification will lead to an increase in orders, but competition remains fierce as rivals accelerate their own initiatives to improve their products. The time-honored U.S. company is currently negotiating a partnership with Japan's Toshiba to jointly produce core equipment used in offshore wind turbines. The partners also expect to drive down manufacturing costs.

Read this article:

GE pushes installation of typhoon-proof offshore turbines in Japan - Nikkei Asia

Ocergy Inc., a company developing a couple of new offshore wind energy solutions, announced last week that Chevron Technology Ventures and Moreld Ocean Wind (MOW) were investing in its Series A round of funding. The money is expected to help the company commercialize its OCG-Wind Floating Offshore Wind Turbine technology and OCG-Data environmental monitoring buoy.

Bloomberg reported that this is Chevrons first investment in offshore wind, and it is believed to be the first investment in offshore wind made by any U.S. oil and gas (O&G) major. However, several European O&G companies have been pouring money into the renewable energy sector including offshore wind. Among the big names adding renewables to their portfolios are Total, BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Equinor, Eni, and Repsol.

This is a very Eurocentric story right now, David Linden, head of Energy Transition with Westwood Global Energy Group, told POWER during an interview in late February. Westwood Global Energy Group is a UK-based energy market research and intelligence firm that provides subscription-based data services, bespoke reporting, and commercial advice to clients around the world. Youve got clear themes that European-based businesses are thinking about decarbonization and diversification, while Asian and American oil and gas companies are less focused on that, Linden said.

The Bloomberg article says, Chevrons deal with Ocergy doesnt mark a strategic pivot to renewable energy, but part of a $300 million plan [Ed. update 4/22/21 at 5:15 p.m. EDT: The Bloomberg article incorrectly reported the investment was part of a $300 million-a-year plan, but a Chevron spokesperson informed POWER that the total is part of a pot of money rather than an annual allotment.] to invest in early-stage technologies that may play a future role in the energy transition. The company is unwilling to erode returns by investing aggressively in unfamiliar business where it doesnt have a competitive advantage and sees oil and gas as its core products for year to come.

Chevron Technology Ventures says it has a 22-year history of investing in startups across a wide cross section of energy innovation and a track record of collaboration to bring innovation to scale. The Ocergy investment is made from CTVs Future Energy Fund, which identifies technology solutions needed for the energy transition, including industrial decarbonization, emerging mobility, and energy decentralization.

Offshore wind power is undergoing a period of rapid innovation in an effort to provide lower carbon energy at a substantial scale, Barbara Burger, vice president of Innovation and president of Technology Ventures at Chevron, said in a statement. Ocergy has developed technology that could be part of the solution to enable more affordable, reliable, and ever-cleaner energy in a marine environment.

We are excited to have gained Chevrons investment and look forward to potential opportunities for their guidance and expertise executing some of the most complex offshore projects in the world, said Ocergy CEO Dominique Roddier.

Ocergys OCG-Wind solutions is said to be a low-cost foundation supporting the new generation of very large offshore wind turbines. The hull allows the platform to have a very light weight (Figure 1), according to the company, and its supposedly tailored for ease of industrialization.

The companys OCG-Data product is a multi-disciplinary ocean observer for complete offshore site assessment. It has enough footprint to host and power multiple instrumentation packages for resource and environmental characterization. Underwater biodiversity monitoring relies on the combination of restoration technologies and passive acoustic monitoring arrays. The buoy also hosts a bird and bat detection and identification system. OCG-Data provides high-quality data including ecological information for stakeholders engagement, Ocergy said.

Morelds investment in Ocergy was accompanied by an announcement that it had formed the new company called MOW, which will focus on delivery of engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) contracts in the floating offshore wind industry. Moreld said it is already a well-established player in the Offshore Floating Wind space, with leading competencies within FEED, marine services and product solutions. Ocergy suggested the collaboration with MOW positions the company to compete aggressively for gigawatt-scale commercial floating offshore wind projects.

Aaron Larson is POWERs executive editor (@AaronL_Power, @POWERmagazine).

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Chevron Joins Growing List of Oil and Gas Companies Investing in Offshore Wind - POWER magazine

The rise of offshore wind

Offshore wind technology is becoming increasingly mainstream. In 2009, offshore wind represented only 1% of global wind generation capacity, a figure which had grown to 10% by 2019.1In recent times, the rise of the ESG movement and the ever increasing regional and global pressure to transition to a sustainable future, as reflected in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the United Nations Paris Agreement on Climate Change, has increased the heat on the oil majors to join the energy transition. A number of the oil majors have seized on offshore wind as an opportunity to invest in ready-to-build assets at significant scale, allowing the oil majors to demonstrate high levels of capital expenditure on climate-friendly projects. Despite being slightly late to the game, a number of the oil majors now view offshore wind as an element of their own transition from international oil companies to international energy companies.

The move into offshore wind by certain oil majors has given rise to concerns that a potential bubble is developing. Further, some of the more traditional players in the offshore space may be out-priced and/or crowded out as a result, with rsted, for example, unable to acquire any development interests in the UKs Fourth Licensing Round despite being a long-standing participant in the sector. The ripples created by the new entrants may also drive out the more financially conservative investors such as pension or infrastructure funds.

The subsidy regimes for offshore wind have generally been successful in developing the commercial viability of the sector. For instance, in the UK, the allocation of Renewable Obligation Certificates and more recently the Contracts for Difference through the Low Carbon Contracts Company, has contributed to increasing the proportion of the UKs generating capacity coming from offshore wind, as well as demonstrably lowering the cost of power. The UKs most recent Contract for Difference (CfD) auction resulted in record low prices 39.65/MWh and 41.61MWh for the two first phases of the Dogger Bank project, for example. Given that the market price reference price in the auction was 52/MWh, these projects may be considered to be delivered on a subsidy free basis.2Long-term offtake arrangements have also resulted in a business that is attractive for its stable, long-term contracted returns.

The level of returns associated with offshore wind projects has therefore reached a relatively mature and steady state in the UK. Participants in the sector could theoretically bid higher prices in the CfD auctions in order to safeguard higher returns but such a move is likely to impact on the competitiveness of their bid. Accordingly, this prompts questions regarding to what extent is the premium that oil majors are paying or prepared to pay to invest in these projects sustainable? One way may be for the oil majors to draw on their engineering, technical and operational experience to achieve certain development, construction and operational efficiencies in and around an offshore wind project to improve the return margins associated with an offshore wind investment.

For example, oil majors are adept engineering and operational businesses and, as such, are used to being able to apply their technological capability to significantly improve efficiencies and productivity. Although the nature of the technology in offshore wind provides less scope for the operational performance improvements that oil majors customarily generate, there still remains some scope for improvements which the oil majors are well placed to capitalise on. For example, oil majors have historically invested in technology to improve their drilling prowess that has enabled them to extract significant amounts of additional barrels of oil. However, equivalent investments in offshore wind turbines is not likely, at this stage, to generate similarly significant additional wind power. That said, oil majors may draw on their technological capability to improve the quality and performance of the supply chain and project management processes, including multi-contracting interface matters.

Another area where oil majors could improve the return margins associated with an offshore wind investment is to contribute to improvements in grid technology and infrastructure. For example, it has long been recognised that a north sea grid (first proposed in November 2008) would bring about significant economic benefits including the ability to integrate a larger amount of renewable energy into the grid (thereby enabling participants to contribute to meeting climate/carbon reduction targets), ensure security of supply and create an internal energy market. It is also key to developing integrated, hybrid offshore projects. However, there are significant challenges associated with this limited experience on the technical side, regulators and other stakeholders need to work out support structures for offshore generation to transmission connection regimes - which makes the challenge multifaceted and progress slow. This may be seen with the Kriegers Flak (Denmark and Germany) and Cobracable (Netherlands and Denmark) projects. Oil majors with their strong balance sheets, technological clout and influential policy and industry voice are well-placed to propose solutions to these challenges and accelerate multi-stakeholder efforts in this space.

Oil majors could also look to offshore hydrolysis to produce green hydrogen. Offshore wind generates electricity that can be converted to hydrogen via the electrolysis of seawater and transported via existing gas pipelines. Transporting these hydrogen gas molecules is much cheaper than transporting electrons via heavy electricity cables from wind farms on the North Sea to land. For instance, the Neptune Energy Q13a oil and gas platform is anticipated to produce green hydrogen from sustainable electricity that is generated by the sun and wind. If this platform is successful, it would demonstrate how the majors could capitalise on their oil and gas experience in the North Sea to contribute to achieving efficiencies in the transportation of energy as well as the broader energy transition.

Proprietary data management and trading expertise have long provided oil majors and their shareholders with great returns. In sophisticated power markets such as the UK, the access to large amounts of electrons gives the trading arms of oil majors the ability to generate significant revenue. As offtake arrangements for offshore wind projects increasingly contain a merchant element, trading in the power generated by offshore wind projects will also become increasingly viable. Battery storage will facilitate this by enabling power to be stored and traded at the desired time. The business case for this would be strengthened by green hydrogen as it lends itself more easily to being stored.

The oil majors may be able to move up the learning curve more quickly than other new entrants in the offshore wind space, and there is real potential for efficiencies to be made during the construction and operation in and around an offshore wind project as a result of the engineering, technical and operational experience of oil majors. However, it is too early to say today to what extent such meaningful efficiencies will be achieved and to quantify the impact it will have on return margins.

In the end, success for the oil majors in the low carbon space will likely come from a diversification of clean technologies, particularly those which can be bolted onto and enhance their existing strengths (e.g. hydrogen), and a diversification of geographies, notably those outside the UK and Europe.

Frontier risk management is another area of capability that the oil majors may bring to bear in the global offshore wind sector. There are (and certainly will be) an ever increasing number of less developed markets which are keen to leap frog their electricity generation capacity straight into utility scale renewables such as offshore wind. This again potentially plays well to the development skill set of the oil majors, as they are likely to already be well versed in navigating the local governance and regulatory framework and, as such, providing them with first mover advantage.

As such the future news story will likely not all be about wind, however nor will this merely be a puff of air for what has been seen in the offshore wind sector is really an early blast of the trumpet. With the improving oil price, deep pockets and a greater alignment with their investor base, the oil majors will likely become a significant player in the energy transition - they are very much on the march.

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1.Global Offshore Wind Report 2020,Global Wind Energy Council, accessed here <https://gwec.net/global-offshore-wind-report-2020/>

2. J Guillet, The lazy and incorrect use of the word subsidy,Green Giraffe, 4 December 2020, accessed here <https://green-giraffe.eu/blog/lazy-and-incorrect-use-word-subsidy>

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Winds of Change: Big Oil's Move into UK Offshore Wind - The National Law Review

Offshore staff

WOODBRIDGE, UK Amarinth has supplied four pumps for ADNOCs Bu Haseer full field development offshore Abu Dhabi.

The location is between Das and Zirku Islands. Bu Haseer is the first of five new offshore fields under development that will collectively produce around 1.5 Bbbl.

Initially Bu Haseer is being developed via an early production system, which commenced operations in 2018, and the second phase covers the full field development.

The two vertical API 610 VS4 vertical pumps needed to operate in hazardous open drains in a space-restricted area. Amarinth adapted the design so that the super duplex vertical pumps could be split into sections for shipping and then assembled within the available space on site.

An API 610 VS4 pump.(Courtesy Amarinth)

Both pumps were manufactured in super duplex stainless steel to accommodate the sour and toxic fluid, which includes high levels of mono ethylene glycol, hydrogen sulphide (H2S), and a high chloride concentration.

The two API 610 OH2 horizontal pumps comprised a scrubber condensate and a production separator pump. Both were specified with a 600-lb flange rating, said to be double the norm for this type of pump.

Amarinth manufactured both in S6 austenitic stainless steel with chrome impellers to handle the hydrocarbons, H2S and high chloride concentration in the water, and supported technicians at Bu Haseer with the commissioning.

04/23/2021

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Amarinth adapts pumps to Bu Haseer restrictions - Offshore Oil and Gas Magazine

Old wind turbine blades could be recycled and reused under plans being developed by Aker Offshore Wind, Aker Horizons and the University of Strathclyde.

The three organisations have signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at driving forward the development of recovery processes for used glass fibre products, including a novel process developed at Strathclyde.

Glass-reinforced polymer composites (GRP), used in wind turbine blades around the world, is recognized as a hard-to-break-down source of pollution. Today nearly all thermoset GRP scrap generated in the UK and Europe goes to landfill or energy from waste.

The volume of GRP scrap is set to increase substantially, with end-of-life wind turbine blades likely to be a major source of GRP scrap in the UK by mid-2030s.

Findings from the University of Strathclyde indicate a global increase of wind turbine blade waste from around 400,000 tons per annum in 2030 to around two million tons by 2050.

Therefore, recyclability and recycled content are increasingly important in construction processes. In many cases increased durability and lower weight would also make GRP a more sustainable solution in the long term.

At Aker Offshore Wind, sustainability is about making business decisions that add value to our company, our stakeholders and society," said Astrid Skarheim Onsum, Chief Executive Officer of Aker Offshore Wind.

Industrial waste is a challenge in most industries, and by teaming up with the University of Strathclyde we have an opportunity to further develop a novel solution to a growing issue and apply it at scale across our segment and beyond.

Dr Liu Yang, Head of Advanced Composites Group at the University of Strathclyde, said: This is a challenge not only for the wind power industry, but for all industries reliant on GRP materials in their production and manufacturing.

Retaining and redeploying the embodied energy in the fibres is essential as we move to a more circular economy.

Under the terms of the MoU, the parties will scale up and commercialise a unique process developed at lab scale by Strathclyde for thermal recovery and post-treatment of glass fibres from GRP scrap to achieve near-virgin quality glass fibres.

Drawing on decades of industrial innovation and operationalising novel technologies, Aker Horizons and Aker Offshore Wind will contribute with funding and relevant competencies to bring the solution into an industrial setting. Furthermore, broad expertise in chemical processing and carbon capture within the wider Aker group, will ensure the industrialisation to be safe and sustainable.

Developed by the Strathclydes Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, the GRP Recycling can turn composite waste into re-usable fibre reinforcement and could serve 50% of global glass fibre demand if implemented worldwide. As the process produces both mid- to high-value fibres, a broad spectrum of the market can be covered, ranging from less demanding to high performance products.

Recycled GRP will also be attractive to industries outside the wind power space and can be tailored for a range of different composite applications. Today, GRP (or glass fibre) is used in sectors like car manufacturing, maritime vessels, oil and gas production, construction and sporting goods.

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Aker Offshore Wind, Aker Horizons and Strathclyde to collaborate on recycling glass fibre products - University of Strathclyde