Deepwater Wind News

The results of fortunes and failures are often described as a “perfect storm”. The COVID pandemic, domestic inflation, labor issues and current geopolitical events have brought that description to a peak. A promise of a “new normal” emerged post pandemic, with a vision of alternative energy, alternative fuels and alternative supply chain logistics to help toward solving some of the problems, heralding a world of change with reduced emissions, government support and the end of fossil fuels as we know them in energy and marine operations.With those promises came big movements in the U.S.

The U.S. has big plans for its offshore wind industry, and shipbuilders like Blount Boats and others are ramping up to capitalize on the unprecedented opportunity.Earlier this year, the Biden Administration unveiled its goal to have 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind power installed and in development in the U.S. by 2030. The announcement, which included plans to open new areas to development, accelerate permits and boost public financing for projects, injected a healthy dose of optimism into an American offshore wind industry that has taken its time getting off the ground.To date…

As part of his Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad (EO 14008)—issued on the first day he took office—President Biden made significant commitments to renewable energy. These commitments include collaborating with multiple federal agencies in the United States and promoting critical industry support for the acquisition of electric vehicles for the federal fleet, as well as rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, the landmark international agreement signed in 2015 to limit global warming.

U.S. offshore wind crew transfer firm Atlantic Wind Transfers said Sunday that the Atlantic Endeavor crew transfer vessel rolled out on the lift dock at Blount Boats over the weekend to get ready for the launch.This new Chartwell Marine crew transfer vessel will be heading to the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Farm for Dominion Energy to support the two Siemens Gamesa turbines 27-miles off Virginia Beach. "Atlantic Wind Transfers and her crew are looking forward to providing O&M support in the years to come…

Europe has been the clear leader in offshore wind power since the world’s first offshore wind farm was built off the coast of Denmark in 1991. Now, as regions in Asia and North America set out to harness the huge energy potential gusting off their shores, local firms are drawing from the expertise laid out in the well-established European industry as they build the foundations for new offshore wind markets of their own.It’s no surprise, then, that designs for offshore wind support vessels currently being built in the U.S. come from the other side of the Atlantic.

Join a webinar on June 17, 2020 for the global release of a major new market study on the depth, breadth and growth prospects of the Offshore Wind Market --  https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UR5uY1boTOKdAAcAXDbR4gJust when it was looking like the offshore wind industry was finally about to take off in the United States, the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced one more significant layer of uncertainty upon an already very complicated playing field. There are currently 15 active offshore wind projects in the planning stages which…

Quonset Point, Rhode Island-based Atlantic Wind Transfers has secured its second long-term O&M Crew Transfer Vessel contract in the U.S.Under the contract Atlantic Wind Transfers will provide offshore marine support services for the Siemens Gamesa offshore wind turbines to be installed for the first offshore wind project in U.S. federal waters. The project is being developed by Richmond, Va.-based Dominion Energy. Atlantic Wind Transfers was selected by Dominion Energy through a competitive bid process.

Now that the United States finally can envision steady winds blowing from the Atlantic Seaboard due to a pipeline of offshore wind farms on the horizon, the maritime industry can finally step up and earn some of the benefits. This includes shipbuilding, port construction, and worker training. This article reviews the key developments and forecasts the growth in maritime jobs.The federal and state governments share responsibility for developing offshore wind farms and bringing the wind into the power grid and…

Happy 80th birthday Maritime Reporter & Engineering News! Eighty years is a significant publishing and business accomplishment!Birthdays always cause a look back. An 80-year review starts in 1939, the close of one very challenging decade, the start of events still reverberating today. History’s most important history is contained in the last 80 years.Energy dominated every one of those decades. Consider energy use, say, starting after World War II, from 1950 to 1975. There was power for everything…

As the North American offshore wind model evolves, it is clear that fit-for-purpose, Jones Act compliant and Arctic ready tonnage will need to be part of the equation. If so, we’ve got that box checked, with a little help from Europe.As of September 2018, the Walney Extension off the United Kingdom is the largest offshore wind farm in the world at 659 megawatts. There are at least 70 major wind farms, each with hundreds of wind turbines, each generating as much as 10 megawatts in offshore England, the North Sea, Russia and China.

Virginia officials have established a well-planned, extensive strategy to build out an offshore wind industry, including wind towers for electricity generation and the supply chain to support that extensive infrastructure and operations. The State’s big picture is ambitious: developing 2,000 MW of offshore wind by 2028.As currently envisioned, VA’s offshore wind development will likely start this year with two 8-megawatt wind turbines 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. This is a Dominion Energy pilot undertaken in partnership with the Danish wind company Orsted.

The advent of U.S. offshore wind also brings the need for the quality and quantity of built-for-purpose vessels needed to sustain its momentum.As the long-awaited advent of offshore wind finally arrives on this side of the big pond, one question which continues to dominate the conversation is where (and when) the fit-for-purpose tonnage necessary for this great leap forward will come from. Just as important, stakeholders need to have confidence in the availability of proven vessel concepts, as they continue to explore opportunities and justify investment decisions in the growing sector.First Out of the GateRhode Island-based shipyard Blount Boats, in June, announced that it had signed a sublicense agreement with Marine Applied Physics Corp.

Danish wind energy giant Orsted completed its previously announced takeover of Deepwater Wind from D.E. Shaw group in a deal valued at $510 million.The company closed the transaction of acquiring 100% of equity stake held by D.E. Shaw group in Deepwater Wind, which was announced in October this year, after securing approval from the US competition authorities.The new combined organization—Ørsted US Offshore Wind—will be able to deliver clean energy to every coastal state in the densely-populated east coast corridor between Massachusetts and Virginia. Seven states in that region have already committed to build more than 10GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030.The new company launches as the clear leader in the US market…

Danish wind power giant Orsted sees surge in earnings from offshore wind, driving interim profits up 14 percent and earnings up 32 percent  for the first nine months of 2018.The world’s largest wind farm operator, formerly known as Dong Energy said that the positive results are due to its transition to a 100 percent green power business and with its third quarter financial results revealing a surge in earnings from offshore wind and a jump in its green share of generation. "Our green share of generation increased from 59% to 71%," said a statement.Danish energy group  said operating profits for the first nine months of 2018 were up 14 per cent to DKK10.8bn ($1.65bn)…

For the past few years, depressed commodity prices, stricter regulatory requirements and competition from onshore development at home and from other countries offering attractive offshore lease and royalty terms have had severe impacts on new exploration in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Thankfully, the tide appears to finally be turning.In August, Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 251 drew increased competition for offerings and $178 million in high bids, $53 million more than previous sale held in March.

Rhode Island shipyard Blount Boats, Inc. said it has signed a sublicense agreement with Marine Applied Physics Corp. (MAPC) of Baltimore, Md., for the building of crew transfer vessels (CTV) designed by U.K. builder South Boats.South Boats has designed and built approximately 30 percent of the wind farm crew transfer vessels operating on European windfarms, and Blount Boats has held the U.S. license for the firm’s designs since 2011.In 2016, Blount delivered a South Boats 21-meter transfer vessel, Atlantic Pioneer, to Rhode Island Fast Ferry. The vessel is the first U.S.

As technologies mature and dramatic cost-cutting continues, the future is looking bright for offshore wind. Below are five trends to keep an eye on.Follow the LeaderOffshore wind’s established leader, Europe, will continue to show the way forward and build capacity. At the end of 2016, nearly 88 percent of the world’s offshore wind installations were located in European waters. In 2017, Europe saw a record 3,148 MW of net additional offshore wind capacity installed, with 560 new offshore wind turbines across 17 wind farms, according to WindEurope.

Offshore wind power continues to gain momentum in the United States. How will the Jones Act affect the development, operation and maintenance of offshore wind farms? After years of planning and some unsuccessful attempts, offshore wind power developers finally have their first success in the United States. The Block Island Wind Farm, a 30-megawatt wind farm located just off the coast of Rhode Island, began operations in December 2016, fulfilling the goal of the project’s developer, Deepwater Wind LLC, to build America’s first offshore wind farm.

Block Island — U.S.-based Deepwater Wind’s five-turbine, 30-megawatt wind park — was the first. It showed what was possible, what might not have been optimal and how long it all takes. Since then, incentives for onshore-wind have been curbed, while a tax credit for offshore wind has been extended. Wind parks are in the works. States have power companies buying offshore wind energy, and experienced offshore operators are hiring the new wind-service vessels from elements of their oil-and-gas supply chain. The Jones Act, too, is being overcome by fleet owners and designers joining the U.S.

In 1869, the U.S. Navy’s first research facility—the Naval Torpedo Station—was built on Newport, Rhode Island’s Goat Island. This rich history continues today, as the state is home to the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, which provides the technical foundation to ensure the U.S. Navy’s undersea superiority. Fitting for “the Ocean State,” we have identified more than 170 Rhode Island organizations that touch undersea technology—and we believe that is a conservative count. We are a cluster leader not just in New England but indeed in the entire country.

Just days after Deepwater Wind said its Block Island Wind Farm has begun delivering electricity into the New England region’s grid, Statoil reports that it has been declared the provisional winner of the U.S. government’s wind lease sale of 79,350 acres offshore New York. Statoil will now have the opportunity to explore the potential development of an offshore wind farm to provide New York City and Long Island with a significant, long-term source of renewable electricity. Statoil submitted a winning bid of $42,469,725 during the online offshore wind auction concluded by the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).

Power developer Deepwater Wind said its Block Island Wind Farm has begun delivering electricity into the New England region’s grid, becoming the United States’ first commercially active offshore wind farm. The energy produced from the Block Island Wind Farm is linked to the New England grid via Block Island and mainland Rhode Island by National Grid’s new sea2shore submarine transmission cable system. The milestone concludes the two-year offshore installation of the wind farm, which Deepwater Wind said was completed on-time and on-budget with the help of more than 300 local workers.

Marine News contributor Robert Kunkel asks: Are we ready to support the farms? On August 19, 2016, we watched as the fifth tower and associated nacelle was raised on the Deepwater Offshore Wind Farm approximately 3 miles offshore of Block Island, Rhode Island. This is the first Offshore Wind farm erected in the United States and, without a doubt, a huge step forward for this controversial project and alternative energy supply. The Block Island Wind Farm has a total generating capacity of 30 megawatts and is projected to produce approximately 125,000 megawatt hours annually.