Offshore Wind Technology News

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released its latest report in the Pathways to Commercial Liftoff series, describing how the U.S. offshore wind sector is adapting to challenges and poised for continued progress, with a path to deploying over 100 gigawatts (GW) by 2050.The Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Offshore Wind report finds that the sector today is poised for liftoff, enabled by continued efforts to adapt to recent market challenges. The projects that move forward in the next several years will lay the foundation for consistent long-term deployment…

The world’s first dedicated innovation centre for floating offshore wind has opened in Scotland.Located in the heart of Aberdeen’s Energy Transition Zone, ORE Catapult’s £9 million National Floating Wind Innovation Centre (FLOWIC), delivered in collaboration with ETZ Limited, is designed to help supercharge the development of floating offshore wind technology in the UK, with funding from both the Scottish Government and Innovate UK.Floating offshore wind represents a huge economic opportunity…

Galileo and Odfjell Oceanwind are collaborating with Vår Energi on a floating offshore wind project at the Goliat platform outside Hammerfest in Norway. The partnership has been strengthened with The Kansai Electric Power Company Inc., a Japanese utility company, joining the team.The offshore wind park will be connected to the Goliat platform using the existing power cable to shore. The purpose of the project is to demonstrate floating offshore wind technology in Norway, as well…

DEME and Greek renewable energy developer and independent power producer FARIA Renewables have signed a cooperation agreement to explore opportunities and co-develop offshore wind farms in Greece. Offshore wind technology is viewed as crucial for achieving global goals towards zero emissions. In support of these goals, the Greek government recently announced the draft ‘National Offshore Wind Farms Development Program’ which is overseen by the Hellenic Hydrocarbons and Energy Resources Management Company (HEREMA).

DNV secured partners to launch a new project to enhance technology development and prepare for scale/industrialization of concrete substructures for floating offshore wind.The new Joint Industry Project (JIP) called Concrete FLOW will optimize requirements for concrete floaters (floating or semisubmersible structures, generally moored to the seabed, used as foundations upon which equipment can be mounted), specifically tailored for floating offshore wind farms.At the kick-off…

Equinor has announced the name of its floating offshore wind project off the coast of California, Atlas Wind. The lease area, which lies 60 miles from Morro Bay, has the capacity to provide over 2GW of reliable, renewable power, enough to power 1.7 million California homes once complete.California is poised to become a growing force in the US energy transition with a nation-leading target of 25GW of offshore wind energy by 2045. Approximately two-thirds of the United States’ offshore wind energy potential lies in deep coastal waters…

NOV's Marine and Construction business unit has come up with a "new and flexible" Modular Service and Operations Vessel (MSOV) concept to "optimize offshore wind farm operations and maintenance." NOV says the vessel's features resemble those of a sea otter."The Enhydra series design characteristics resemble the sea otter's (Enhydra) unique and physical behavioral features. The sea otter is the sole marine mammal to use tools, and it uses its streamlined body design to efficiently perform deep dives to the seafloor and adapt its lung capacity to float effectively on the surface…

The United States on Tuesday is set to kick off the first sale of offshore wind development rights for waters off the coast of California, expanding the nascent domestic industry to the Pacific Ocean.The auction is a major milestone in the Biden administration's push to put wind turbines along every U.S. coastline as part of its climate change agenda. Projects developed in the area could one day power 1.5 million homes, according to the Department of Interior, and are a key part of California's efforts to wean its power sector off fossil fuels by 2045.The sale also puts the United States…

The Biden administration on Thursday unveiled a plan to accelerate development of next-generation floating offshore wind farms by slashing the cost of the technology by 70% and setting a goal for it to power 5 million U.S. homes by 2035.The announcement was the latest in the White House's push to bolster the nation's fledgling offshore wind industry as part of its climate-change agenda.Wind turbines that float on the ocean's surface are an emerging technology necessary for projects off the coasts of California…

The U.S. Department of the Interior announced next steps to bring offshore wind energy to the Gulf of Maine. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has made available a Request for Interest (RFI) and Request for Competitive Interest (RFCI) in the Federal Register for public comment.“President Biden has set ambitious goals to address the climate crisis, and in response the Interior Department is taking historic steps to develop a robust and sustainable clean energy future,” said Secretary Deb Haaland.

The European Commission has chosen Technip Energies, X1 Wind, and a consortium of ten international entities, to deliver the NextFloat project, a program aimed at accelerating industrial-scale floating wind.NextFloat project's main objectives are to demonstrate a competitive, sustainable, and integrated floating offshore wind solution optimized for deep waters and to accelerate the industrial-scale deployment of floating offshore wind. The integrated solution relies on X1 Wind's floating offshore wind technology…

The storied South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) complex in Brooklyn, N.Y. will be transformed into a major regional hub for offshore wind under a new agreement signed Thursday.Energy companies Equinor and bp said they reached a deal with terminal operator Sustainable South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SSBMT) and New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) to transform the terminal into an offshore wind port for staging and assembling offshore wind technology components for the Empire Wind and Beacon Wind projects and for the growing U.S.

No, that’s not the clarinet and saxophone sections in the band. New Jersey’s Economic Development Authority (EDA) released an RFP (request for proposals) on January 7 seeking a “qualified entity to conduct a feasibility study for a world-class, flagship offshore wind research and development (R&D) testing facility as part of the Authority’s strategy to accelerate innovation for the offshore wind industry.” EDA lists three goals for the proposed Institute:Establish NJ as a leader in offshore wind technology research and innovation…

Bureau Veritas (BV) has granted an Approval in Principle (AiP) to Hyundai Heavy Industries for its design and development of “Hi-Float”, a floating offshore wind turbine foundation. The offshore floating wind substructure “Hi-Float” is designed to support a 10MW wind turbine with semi-submersible and mooring technology. According to a press statement issued by BV, at Hi-Float,  a passive ballast system ensures that risk is kept to a minimum during offshore operations. The good…

Kincardine floating offshore wind farm, located 15 km off the coast of Aberdeenshire, is now fully operational, Principle Power, a company that designed the 50MW wind farm's semi-submersible foundations, said Tuesday.The project, the world's largest of the type, consists of five Vestas V164-9.5 MW and one V80-2 MW turbine, each installed on WindFloat semi-submersible platforms designed by Principle Power. The Kincardine project was initiated in 2014 by Allan MacAskill and Lord Nicol Stephen, now both directors of Flotation Energy plc.

As of end-June 2021, more than 100 turbine and foundation installation and maintenance vessels will be required for offshore wind projects planned over this decade.More than 100 turbine and foundation installation and maintenance vessels will be required for offshore wind projects planned over this decade. Almost all of the current fleet of international wind turbine installation vessels will be technically redundant as installation vessels by 2025 as a consequence of the rapidly growing wind turbine sizes, greater water depths and increase in foundation size.

UK-based offshore crew transfer vessels provider High Speed Transfers (HST) said Wednesday it had ordered three new crew transfer vessels.The company ordered two BARTech 30 CTVs from marine engineering consultancy, BAR Technologies, and an additional hybrid Chartwell 24, with BAR Technologies’ Foil Optimised Stability System (FOSS) from Chartwell Marine. The vessels will be built at Diverse Marine, on the Isle of Wight, UK."As offshore wind technology continues to evolve, and projects are developed further out to sea…

The National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium (NOWRDC)has made available $2.6 million for a group of projects aiming to advance technological innovation that will drive down costs of offshore wind development in the U.S.The Consortium, established by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in 2018, this week announced Round One awards in the Offshore Wind Solicitation 1.0 for offshore wind technology…

In 1941, geologist Orval Lester Brace stated “it may be tentatively assumed that the Gulf of Mexico is a potential source of salt-dome oil. Whether or not it will be economically feasible to explore these waters for the domes that must exist is a question for the future to answer.”  The future hypothesized by Mr. Brace was not nearly as far off as it seemed. Less than six years after his proclamation, Kerr-McGee Oil Industries, along with Phillips Petroleum, Stanolind Oil and Gas Co…

EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG is continuing its strategy of capturing growth in new international markets in the renewable energy sector. Following its recent entry into Taiwan, EnBW has now expanded its activities to the United States of America by establishing a regional subsidiary, EnBW North America, and forming a joint venture with Trident Winds Inc. to develop an offshore wind project off the coast of in Central California. This represents the EnBW Groups first step toward tapping into the high potential of the American market. Several of the United States have set ambitious goals for the expansion of offshore wind. "EnBW will have a direct presence in this promising market to capture opportunities and to further build up  EnBW's offshore project portfolio…

MHI Vestas Offshore Wind (MVOW) announced that the first turbine has been installed at Northwester 2 in Belgium, the world’s first offshore wind park to feature the record-breaking V164-9.5 MW turbine.The 219 MW project, Northwester 2, is the first offshore wind park in the world to deploy the V164-9.5 MW turbine from MHI Vestas. The project will consist of 23 V164.9-5 MW turbines to spin 50 km off the coast of Ostend in Belgium.Northwester 2 is the fourth collaboration between Parkwind and MHI Vestas in Belgian waters, soon providing a combined output capacity of 765 MW in the country.“The installation of the world’s first commercial wind turbine exceeding 9 MW is an exceptionally proud moment for our company,” said MHI Vestas Chief Operations Officer Flemming Ougaard.

The blade for GE’s Haliade-X 12MW offshore wind turbine has arrived at MassCEC’s Wind Technology Testing Center (WTTC) in Boston, U.S.The 107-meter blade will undergo a series of fatigue tests that involve moving it millions of times over the period of a few months to validate that it can withstand more than 25 years of operation at sea. The testing is part of the process of commercializing GE’s Haliade-X 12 MW turbine -- the most powerful in the industry -- by 2021, strengthening the company’s ability to compete in a market steadily gaining momentum in the U.S. and globally.“This has really been a collaborative effort on the part of the company to be part of solving the challenges associated with the energy transition," said GE Chairman and CEO H. Lawrence Culp, Jr.

U.S. Senator Charles Schumer on Monday joined Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, calling for a creation of a local offshore wind turbine assembly center at Sunset Park, Brooklyn, New York, and calling for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) funding.According to a statement released by the Senator's office, the assembly site would position New York to play a significant role in the offshore wind supply chain, "which could create thousands of jobs…