Renewable Energy Development News

Energy and marine consultancy ABL has opened a new office in Salvador, Brazil, expanding its presence in the country and strengthening its asset integrity management offering for the oil and gas, maritime and industrial sectors.The new office will support asset integrity management projects in Brazil and across the wider Americas region, while also serving as a platform to expand ABL's broader portfolio of maritime, offshore, engineering and renewable energy services.The Salvador office will be headed by Mauricio Viana…

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, a Danish firm eager to invest in Italian offshore wind farms, is getting impatient.Two years after the country's 2024 law offered incentives to would-be developers to provide offshore wind capacity, the government has yet to announce a calendar for auctions it said it would hold by 2028.The inertia reflects a reluctance to embrace the transition from fossil fuels as a complex and polarised international debate pits clean energy campaigners against some governments and companies. U.S.

As offshore wind rises to meet ambitious climate goals, balancing the need for infrastructure with maintaining biodiversity has become a pressing challenge. One innovative, recent example is the installation of the UK’s first nearshore artificial nesting structures, designed to safeguard seabirds while enabling the development of the world’s single largest offshore wind farm.Hornsea 3, developed by Ørsted, plays a critical role in the UK’s clean energy transition. Yet the project faced a significant environmental challenge by needing to protect the black-legged kittiwake…

Australia’s TasPorts and H2U Group have signed an MOU to explore developing a green hydrogen and ammonia facility at Bell Bay port in Tasmania.The proposed facility would be initially capable of producing up to 500,000 tonnes of green ammonia per year with the potential to scale-up.TasPorts and the H2U Group will assess the technical, economic, environmental, and social feasibility of the project, including potential port infrastructure requirements, energy and water supply, export logistics…

The Trump administration on Friday ordered Denmark's Orsted to stop far-advanced construction on an offshore wind project near Rhode Island, in a move that threatens to exacerbate the company's financial troubles.With construction now frozen at 80% completion, Orsted has no immediate path to revenue generation, heightening pressure on the company as it seeks to shore up finances through a $9.4 billion emergency rights issue.The stop-work order, issued by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), is the administration's latest effort to hinder U.S.

In a stride for the Canadian clean energy transition, two leaders in British Columbia’s ocean innovation sector have announced a joint initiative that forges brand new pathways for the development and commercialization of marine renewable energy and decarbonization technologies in British Columbia.The BC Marine Energy and Decarbonization Hub is a core initiative of COAST, Pacific Canada’s hub for the sustainable blue economy, delivered in partnership with the University of Victoria.

ABL Group has entered into an agreement to acquire Brazil-based naval architecture and engineering consultancy Proper Marine, increasing its expertise in floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) sector.Proper Marine will be merged with ABL’s design and engineering arm Longitude.The company will expand ABL’s design and engineering capabilities with a team of over 90 professionals and a track-record of more than 1,600 projects.The acquisition will strengthen ABL Group’s offering in both Brazil and the wider Americas within vessel design and conversion…

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has finalized an extensive environmental review concerning wind development activities across six lease areas in the New York Bight, covering more than 488,000 acres off the coasts of New York and New Jersey. This initiative is projected to yield up to 7 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy—enough to supply power to approximately two million households.BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein emphasized the importance of stakeholder engagement, stating, "We have gathered input from Tribes, government agencies, local communities, and ocean users.

US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland has announced that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) have finalized updated regulations for renewable energy development on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf. The final rule increases certainty and reduces the costs associated with the deployment of offshore wind projects by modernizing regulations, streamlining overly complex processes and removing unnecessary ones…

Marine transportation services provider Hornbeck Offshore on Thursday made public its paperwork for a stock market listing in New York, which showed its revenue rose in the three months ended September.The listing will test the appetite for another stock flotation at a time when green shoots in the U.S. IPO market have been overshadowed by the poor post-debut performances of some high-profile firms that listed recently.Hornbeck intends to list its shares on the New York Stock…

Singapore-based Cyan Renewables said Wednesday it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to partner with Taiya Renewable Energy, a Taiwanese offshore wind farm development company. Under the MOU, Cyan and Taiya will collaborate to build vessel capacity, including CLV, FIV and WTIV vessels, and work together on deployment in Taiwan and other markets. The MOU also outlines partnerships on key infrastructure like offshore wind supply base, as well as working together to establish new local partnerships and strengthen governmental and industry-academia cooperation in Taiwan…

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on Tuesday invited public comment on possible commercial wind energy development in areas offshore Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine.BOEM said the call represented an early step in the commercial planning and leasing process in the Gulf fo Maine, and the first required by BOEM regulations.“BOEM is committed to transparent, inclusive and data-driven processes, and public input is essential to helping us determine areas that may be suitable for offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein.

Jennifer Carpenter has been president and CEO of The American Waterways Operators (AWO) in January 2020, but her time with the national trade association representing the inland and coastal tugboat, towboat and barge industry dates back to 1990. This month, she weighs in on top challenges and opportunities currently present in the industry, from difficult regulatory changes to the uptake of cleaner vessel technologies.What are some of the biggest and most important issues facing the tug, towboat and barge industry?Big picture, I feel like our industry has never been more relevant.

The Port of South Louisiana (Port SL) said it has reached a deal with T. Parker Host to buy the Avondale Global Gateway, a logistics hub at site of the former Avondale Shipyard.The acquisition of this 254-acre facility at mile 108 of the Mississippi River will allow the port to be more competitive in traditional international trade and focus on the new frontier of renewable energy development, Port SL said.The purchase and sale agreement was announced Thursday by Port SL CEO Paul Matthews following unanimous approval from the port commission.

The United States' largest dredging contractor Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation on Wednesday announced the receipt of $107 million in new contract awards along the U.S. East Coast.The awarded dredging work includes: Norfolk Harbor Navigation Improvements Project (Capital, Virginia, $56.8 million), Charleston Lower Harbor Maintenance Dredging Project (Maintenance, South Carolina, $15.4 million), Tampa Harbor Maintenance Dredging 45-Foot Project (Maintenance, Florida, $13 million)…

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) said Thursday it had completed its environmental review of potential impacts from offshore wind energy leasing activities in the Humboldt Wind Energy Area, located 20 miles offshore northern California. Based on its analysis, BOEM has issued a finding of no significant impact (FONSI). “The completion of this Environmental Assessment represents an important step forward for ensuring that any future renewable energy development – should a lease sale occur -- is done in a responsible manner,” said BOEM Director Amanda Lefton.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has completed its environmental review of potential impacts from offshore wind energy leasing activities in the New York Bight, a portion of the Atlantic Ocean located offshore New York and New Jersey, and found no significant impact.The New York Bight WEAs are located in an area of shallow waters between Long Island (to the north and east) and the New Jersey coast (to the south and west)"The final Environmental Assessment (EA) assesses potential impacts from the issuance of leases within nearly 800…

With the recent announcement by Secretary Deb Haaland that the Department of Interior will potentially hold up to seven new offshore lease sales by 2025, the Biden administration has taken a significant step toward its goal of bringing online 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030. This development is the latest indicator that close collaboration now between America’s offshore wind and maritime stakeholders holds the promise of lasting benefits for our nation’s energy future.

In Antony and Cleopatra, Shakespeare coined the phrase “salad days” to mean a youthful time filled with unbridled enthusiasm and idealism. Indeed, youth, much like salad, is often raw, flavorful and most of all… green. Therefore, it is fitting to think of our present time as the salad days of offshore energy in the United States. Let’s dig in.Executive Order appetizersOn January 27, President Biden took early steps to implement his campaign promise to transition the United States away from fossil fuels and invest in renewable energy…

The U.S. Interior Department on Friday sought to erase the Trump administration's pro-fossil fuels legacy from the nation's public lands by revoking a suite of policies that boosted drilling and mining and ordering that climate change be put at the forefront in future agency decisions.The moves come as the Democratic Biden administration moves rapidly to implement policies aimed at decarbonizing the U.S. economy by 2050.Republican former President Donald Trump, a vocal climate change skeptic…

Jennifer Carpenter joined The American Waterways Operators (AWO), the national trade association representing the inland and coastal tugboat, towboat and barge industry, in August 1990 and became its president and CEO in January 2020. She weighs in on the unprecedented challenges encountered over the past year and addresses top priorities along the uncertain path ahead.The world has changed drastically in the year since you took the helm at AWO. How have priorities shifted, both…

The Biden administration on Tuesday said it will explore the potential of offshore wind energy development in the Gulf of Mexico, part of its goal to supercharge growth in clean energy over the next decade."This is an important first step to see what role the Gulf may play in this exciting frontier,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement.While the Gulf of Mexico is a major hub for offshore oil and gas production, it has had little renewable energy development. President Joe Biden has made the expansion of clean energy…

The Biden administration said on Wednesday it would restart permitting for the first major U.S. offshore wind farm, reversing a Trump administration decision that canceled the process late last year.The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) said in a statement it would resume environmental review of the Vineyard Wind project as part of the administration's broad plan to speed renewable energy development on federal lands and waters."BOEM is committed to conducting a robust and timely review of the proposed project…