Energy Future News

The Methanol Institute (MI) and SEA-LNG, key representatives of the methanol and LNG industries respectively, have expressed their deep concerns following the recent announcement by the European Commission impacting the trade of biomethane and biomethane-based biofuels such as biomethanol.The Commission has noted the intention to exclude the automatic certification of biomethane and biomethanol-based fuels produced through mass balance chain of custody in third-party countries outside the EU gas grids within the Union Database (UDB)…

Meyer Turku has outlined some of the highlights of its environmental policy developments, noting that it has used only certified carbon neutral electricity since 2018. Starting from 2023, also all district heating used the shipyard has been carbon neutral.“We are lucky to partner with Turku Energia who is able to supply up-to-date electricity and heating solutions. The impact we make together is big and encourages us further with our sustainability ambitions. This decision showcases our deep-rooted values and our forward-thinking approach and commitment to embracing cleaner energy solutions.

Offshore wind developer Vineyard Offshore announced that Rick Musiol, Jr. has joined the company as Director of External Affairs and Community Engagement. In this newly created position, Musiol will lead community engagement and corporate citizenship programs everywhere Vineyard Offshore has a presence.“As Vineyard Offshore expands its work on the East and West Coasts, our top priority is to be an active and engaged member of the community,” said Christian Scorzoni, Chief External Affairs Officer for Vineyard Offshore.

One of the largest port-infrastructure companies Euroports and Spanish offshore wind developer BlueFloat Energy have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to foster cooperation in supply chain and ports infrastructure for the delivery of offshore wind in Europe.The strategic alliance marks a significant step forward in building capabilities and infrastructure critical to establish an offshore wind energy sector.Euroports, with its distinguished reputation as a premier offshore wind port operator…

“The winds of change are blowing wild and free.” – Bob DylanIn the U.S. offshore wind industry, developments over recent months have placed an exclamation point on the word “wild”. Yes, the wind still blows “free”, but mounting challenges have proven that harnessing its power offshore is anything but. In fact, far from it, as rising materials costs, high interest rates, labor shortages and supply chain delays, among other issues, have delivered heavy blows to the commercial viability of several projects.

New York officials on Thursday awarded provisional contracts to two proposed offshore wind projects under a program meant to support the embattled industry and keep the state's clean energy goals on track.The state selected a planned 810-megawatt project, Empire Wind 1, (developed by Equinor) and Sunrise Wind, a planned 924-megawatt project (developed by Orsted and Eversource).The closely watched solicitation by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)…

The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), Crowley Wind Services and the City of Salem announced the transfer of ownership and an agreement for site improvements and ongoing operations for the Salem Offshore Wind Terminal.The agreement will kickstart the transformation of the site into the second port built specifically to support the construction of offshore wind farms in Massachusetts. The Salem Offshore Wind Terminal will also support the construction and installation…

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has set out plans to invest $4.75 million to establish a new national center of excellence to accelerate offshore wind deployment across the United States.The Academic Center for Reliability and Resilience of Offshore Wind (ARROW), led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst with approximately 40 partners, will focus on workforce development, targeted research, and partnerships and strategies to advance offshore wind development.As offshore…

The first turbine has been installed at the South Fork Wind Farm offshore New York, developer Ørsted announced on Monday.The first of South Fork Wind’s 12 Siemens Gamesa wind turbine generators was hoisted into place by the offshore construction team at the project site 35 miles off Montauk, N.Y. Van Oord’s offshore installation vessel, the Aeolus, is installing the turbines. Turbine installation involves using a crane to place the steel turbine tower onto the foundation. The nacelle and rotor are then installed on top of the tower.

Japanese FPSO leasing firm MODEC said Thursday that the first steel-cutting ceremony for the Guyana-bound FPSO Errea Wittu had been held in China.MODEC secured its first order to supply an FPSO to Guyana in May 2023. The order came from an ExxonMobil-led consortium and is for the deployment of the FPSO to the giant Stabroek offshore block in Guyana, where Exxon already has three FPSOs in production, all three supplied by SBM Offshore.According to World Energy Reports, China's DSIC has the construction hull contract…

The Biden administration on Friday unveiled a plan to phase down oil and gas auctions in federal waters with the release of a long-awaited leasing schedule that includes a maximum of three sales in the Gulf of Mexico through 2029.The Interior Department's plan includes by far the lowest number of sales since the agency began producing Congressionally-mandated five-year oil and gas leasing schedules in 1980. Previous programs have ranged between 11 and 41 sales, according to Interior's U.S.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) said Monday it had completed its environmental review of the proposed Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) commercial project.“The completion of our environmental review marks another step towards a clean energy future—one that benefits communities and co-exists with other ocean users,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein. “The best available science and knowledge shared by Tribes, other government agencies, local communities, ocean users…

Floating LNG solutions provider Höegh LNG and the Norwegian oil and gas firm Aker BP have entered a strategic partnership to develop a "fully comprehensive carbon transport and storage offering for industrial CO2 emitters in Northern Europe.""The agreement combines the companies’ respective strengths, expertise, and technologies to establish a strong value chain for CCS on the Norwegian Continental Shelf that includes gathering, transporting and securely injecting CO2 for permanent storage in subsea reservoirs…

The U.S. Gulf Coast region, the nation's primary offshore source of oil and gas, has cheap electricity and lacks state mandates for renewable energy procurement, making it an unlikely place to expand one of the most expensive forms of clean energy.That is why players in the nascent U.S. offshore wind industry are looking beyond the grid when the Biden administration holds the first-ever offshore wind auction in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday, eyeing the sale instead as a way to…

It’s a big deal when a U.S. president visits an American shipyard, and these trips always send a message. When President Obama spoke at HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding in 2013, he warned of the consequences of sequestration. President Trump’s 2020 speech at Fincantieri Marinette Marine touted a $5.5 billion naval contract that gave a welcome boost to the Wisconsin shipyard and its supply chain partners. Most recently, President Biden traveled to Philadelphia’s Philly Shipyard…

The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on Tuesday approved the construction of a 704-megawatt (MW) wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island, the fourth major offshore wind project the agency has greenlit as the Biden administration tries to meet a goal of bringing 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind power online by 2030.The Revolution Wind project about 15 nautical miles southeast of Point Judith, R.I. is being developed by Eversource and Ørsted as Rhode Island and Connecticut's first utility-scale offshore wind farm…

Avangrid, a U.S.-based subsidiary of the Spanish renewable energy giant Iberdrola, on Monday shared a photo of the completed Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind substation.This is the first offshore wind substation installed in the U.S. and will serve the country's first large-scale offshore wind farm - Vineyard Wind.DEME Offshore used its flagship vessel, Orion, to install the 3,000-ton Vineyard Wind 1 substation.The offshore substation serves to collect the generated electricity from 62 wind turbines and sends the power through an export cable and into the regional electricity grid.Once completed…

President Joe Biden traveled to Philadelphia on Thursday to attend a steel cutting ceremony for Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation's new offshore wind rock placement vessel, touting his administration’s clean energy agenda and job creation efforts as the U.S. builds up its offshore wind industry. "The clean energy future we’re building all across America will be transformational,” Biden said during the ceremony at Philly Shipyard. “Thousands of families will rely on good jobs these projects create…

In the global quest for achieving net zero emissions and slowing down global warming, carbon capture and storage (CCUS) technology has emerged as an important solution. Among the notable projects being developed in the field is the Northern Lights offshore carbon capture and storage project in Norway, a country with long experience with offshore CO2 storage.The transition to a sustainable energy future requires innovative solutions that go beyond simply halting fossil fuel projects.

The installation of the first monopiles and transition pieces has kicked off for the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm in the United States - the Vineyard Wind 1.“We can finally say it – as of today, there is ‘steel in the water,’” said Klaus S. Moeller, CEO of Vineyard Wind, the company developing the Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind farm, located in a federal wind energy area 15 miles south of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, and 35 miles from mainland Massachusetts.Vineyard…

U.S. offshore wind farm developer Vineyard Wind will deploy and test a secondary bubble curtain noise mitigation system during foundation installation at the Vineyard Wind offshore wind farm, the first commercial-scale wind farm installation project in the U.S.For this, the company is investing in ThayerMahan, a firm that specializes in seabed surveys, acoustic mitigation and monitoring, and other maritime-related services, with facilities in Connecticut and Massachusetts. The $5 million in funding comes from Vineyard Wind's Industry Accelerator Fund…

An offshore wind hub is coming to the site of the former Avondale Shipyard in Louisiana as the region ramps up to service the growing renewable energy industry in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.New Orleans-based Gulf Wind Technology (GWT) announced Monday it is collaborating with energy supermajor Shell to establish a research, training and technology demonstration program at GWT’s facility within the Avondale Global Gateway in Jefferson Parish.The news comes after the Biden administration…

The U.S. Interior Department on Tuesday named Elizabeth Klein, a lawyer who worked in the Obama and Clinton administrations, to head the bureau that oversees offshore oil, gas and wind development.Klein will take over for the current head of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Amanda Lefton, who has resigned from the post effective Jan.