Renewable Electricity News

Wind power production outpaced gas plants in Europe for the first time last year as fossil fuel electricity generation plummeted, cutting the region's carbon emissions, data from think-tank Ember showed.Europe is ramping up its renewable electricity generation as part of efforts to wean the bloc off Russian fuels and to help meet its climate goal of net zero emissions by 2050.Europe's fossil fuel power generation fell by a record 19% year-on-year in 2023, with gas-fired electricity production down 15% and coal electricity production down 26% the report by Ember showed.At the same time wind pow

North Star has secured a contract with energy utility giant EnBW to deliver a new hybrid-electric service operations vessel (SOV) on a decade-long minimum charter to service the He Dreiht wind farm off the coast of Germany.The agreement marks the company’s first offshore wind move outside the UK market, a milestone mark in its ambitious European growth strategy to add 40 new SOVs to its fleet by 2040.The newbuild is of VARD 407 design which has been tailored to meet EnBW’s specific…

Belgium-based offshore installation contractor Jan De Nul has signed the export cable contract with Ørsted for its 2.9 GW Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm in the U.K.Jan De Nul will be responsible for the seabed preparation, transport, installation and protection of 350 km of DC export cables connecting the wind farm to the U.K. electricity grid.For the installation and protection of the DC export cables, the company is going to deploy several vessels.Cable-laying vessels Isaac Newton and Connector will transport and install the cables…

Jan De Nul Group together with its consortium partners LS Cable & System and Denys has signed the contracts for two 525 HVDC cable systems for the two grid connection systems BalWin4 and LanWin1. These mark the first two contracts signed under the long-term framework agreement that TenneT and Jan De Nul have signed earlier this year. The projects comprise the design, manufacturing, transport, installation, protection and testing of three 525 kV cable systems for connecting offshore…

Energy ecosystems are evolving as the value of offshore power-to-X production is being realized.Flexible and delivered in long lengths on reels in a fast-track operation, thermoplastic composite pipeline can transfer up to nine times the amount of energy as a cable and can be used to store hydrogen, increasing the uptime of offshore wind farm generated power.That’s according to Netherlands based supplier Strohm, member of the Hydrogen Offshore Production for Europe (HOPE) project and the Dutch floating green hydrogen and ammonia OFFSET project.

DNV has released the 7th edition of its Energy Transition Outlook highlighting that global energy-related emissions are still climbing and are only likely to peak in 2024. “The pace of the transition is far from fast enough for a net-zero energy system by 2050,” states the report.Over the last five years (2017–2022) renewables met 51% of new energy demand and fossil sources 49%. In absolute terms, fossil-fuel use is still growing.“Our prediction is that emissions from oil use will peak in 2025 and those from natural gas in 2027,” says Remi Eriksen, Group president and CEO.

Despite the negative headlines around the longer-term prospects for the U.S. offshore wind segment, business intelligence company Intelatus Global Partners sees continued efforts by the federal government and, in particular, the East Coast states to find solutions to the challenges faced by the industry as whole, which can be grouped under three headings: high inflation, supply chain development and high interest rates.On the side of the federal government, offshore wind leasing and permitting is being prioritized over oil and gas development.

According to the latest edition of DNV’s Maritime Forecast to 2050, the shipping industry will find it challenging to secure enough supply of carbon-neutral fuels.To meet the anticipated demand of 17 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) annually by 2030, the maritime sector would need to access 30-40% of the projected worldwide carbon-neutral fuel supply.As the shipping industry will compete for these fuels with aviation and road transportation, as well as other industries, their production needs to significantly accelerate if the industry’s emission-reduction goals are to be met.

Classification society DNV has awarded the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping in collaboration with Nordic Green Ammonia Powered Ships (NoGAPS) partners BW Epic Kosan, Yara, MAN Energy Solutions, Wärtsilä, Global Maritime Forum and Breeze Ship Design an Approval in Principle (AiP) for the design of an ammonia-powered gas carrier – the M/S NoGAPS. The certificate was presented during the Nor-Shipping trade fair at the DNV stand.The maritime industry is accelerating in its drive towards a multi-fuel zero carbon future.

Ørsted broke ground on Europe’s largest e-methanol project, FlagshipONE, on May 24.FlagshipONE will start production in 2025 and will produce 50,000 tonnes of e-methanol annually. The maritime sector is a key target for the methanol. Currently, over 110 e-methanol vessels have been ordered or are in operation, up from 80 vessels at the end of 2022.Originally developed by the Swedish e-fuels company Liquid Wind, FlagshipONE will be located next to Övik Energi’s combined heat and power plant Hörneborgsverket in Örnsköldsvik…

Scientists warn that climate change is the greatest peril that humankind has ever faced. Yet oil and gas exploration is set to clock the highest growth for more than a decade this year and next. Protesters cause disruption but, for the moment, hydrocarbon energy underpins life as we know it“Offshore oil and gas production probably matters now more than ever,” said Audun Martinsen. The Rystad Energy Partner and Head of Energy Research told Maritime Reporter & Engineering News.“It…

Green hydrogen technology start-up sHYp has moved into offices and laboratory space at The James Hutton Institute in Aberdeen with plans to expand to five staff on site by summer.The move gives sHYp access to the institute’s specialist analytical equipment and expertise. This will help it develop what could be the first electrolyzer able to produce hydrogen from sea water without the need for desalination, which traditional electrolysis techniques need. According to sHYp, its technology…

Dominion Energy executives said on Wednesday that the electric utility's $9.8 billion offshore Virginia wind farm is on track and on budget, having recently entered a critical phase of the environmental review process.The roughly month-long crucial public comment period on the environmental impact study of the 2.6 gigawatt project will end in February, Dominion Chief Executive Officer Robert Blue said on the Richmond, Virginia-based company's quarterly earnings call. "As it relates to the project's execution…

International trade by sea has long been a key part of the world economy and approximately 90% of traded commodities is reliant on shipping. Once wind-propelled in the days of sail, the current generation of ships now heavily rely on fossil fuels. Fossil fuel propulsion contributes to global warming with carbon emissions approximating 940 MtCO2e per year and also has health implications for communities surrounding ports through the release of air pollutants. The environmental impact of fossil-fuelled engines is further compounded by their use in port infrastructure…

Shell PLC's LNG Canada export project in British Columbia plans to start building its proposed second phase with natural gas-powered turbines and switch to electricity as more renewable power becomes available, a top executive said, a decision that means the expansion project will initially generate high greenhouse gas emissions.LNG Canada, in which Japan's Mitsubishi Corp owns a 15% stake, is set to be Canada's first liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal. The first phase…

Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller - Maersk announced it is partnering with U.S.-based Carbon Sink to secure a supply of green methanol for its next generation of cleaner burning containerships.Under a recently signed letter of intent (LOI), Carbon Sink will develop green methanol production facilities in the United States. The first facility will be co-located with the Red River Energy existing bioethanol plant in Rosholt, S.D. and will have a production capacity of approximately 100,000 tonnes per year from 2027.

A team of Finnish maritime industry partners are developing plans to build a cargo vessel that runs on green ammonia.Shipping company Meriaura, technology company Wärtsilä and green energy project development company Green NortH2 Energy signed a letter of intent (LOI) to develop the cleaner-burning vessel, which will be ordered and operated by Meriaura and equipped with Wärtsilä’s modular multifuel main engines. Green NortH2 Energy is responsible for supplying green ammonia fuel produced with renewable electricity.

Maritime classification society DNV on Tuesday unveiled its latest Maritime Forecast to 2050 report with a new focus on how to overcome the “ultimate hurdle” of fuel availability.The 84-page forecast is the sixth edition of its kind, and this year it considers the comprehensive production, distribution and bunkering infrastructures required to enable the maritime industry’s shift to carbon-neutral fuels.The report also presents an updated outlook on regulations, drivers, future technologies, and costs for decarbonizing shipping.

Stena Line says that it has decreased the carbon emissions by 11% per ton of cargo carried over each nautical mile, plus a reduction of 4% total ship emissions compared to pre-Covid operations. According to the company, the main contributor is the higher utilization of its fleet with cargo during the latest years. Also, during port operations and lay times, Stena Line says that it now uses 100% renewable electricity. The energy is used for shore power at 20% of Stena Line´s terminals while berthing…

A third gas pipeline between Spain and France would cost at least 3 billion euros ($3 billion) and take years to complete, making it a less attractive option to address Europe's supply worries than new terminals to receive fuel by boat, France's energy transition ministry said.The European Union is bracing for any further fall in gas flows from Russia, which had been the 27-nation bloc's biggest supplier before it invaded its neighbour Ukraine in February and trade was disrupted.German…

Batteries for maritime power have been picking up big momentum, benefiting from the most basic concept within Econ 101: supply and demand.On May 19 Corvus Energy announced it would establish a lithium ion battery manufacturing facility in Port Bellingham, Wash., just north of Seattle. Corvus Energy is a leading supplier of battery energy storage systems (BESS) for marine applications. Its systems already power more than 30 North American vessels, as well as 29 hybrid port cranes and 11 land-based drilling rigs.Geir Bjørkeli…

WinGD and Hyundai Heavy Industries’ Engine Machinery Division (EMD) are working together to deliver the first WinGD engine capable of running on ammonia, as the shipping industry continues to progress toward decarbonization.Under an memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed during the Posidonia exhibition on June 7, the partners will aim to deliver a first engine by 2025, in line with WinGD’s previously announced timeframe for bringing ammonia engines to market. The project will…

After the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced TotalEnergies and Duke Energy Corp as the winners of two offshore wind leases in federal waters off the coast of North and South Carolina on Wednesday, the confirmation came Friday from TotalEnergies, too.TotalEnergies has won the maritime lease area OCS-A 0545 as part of the Carolina Long Bay auction. This bid for the development of an offshore wind farm in the Carolina Long Bay area offshore North Carolina was won for a consideration of US$ 160 million by TotalEnergies.Located 20 nautical miles (37 kilometers) from the coast…