Wind Farms News

American Offshore Services (A-O-S) has deployed its hybrid-ready crew transfer vessel (CTV) to support the offshore wind industry on the U.S. East Coast.The M/V Generater CTV is the second vessel in the A-O-S’ G-Class series, which has been delivered from Metal Shark Boats in Louisiana.The G-Class vessels are designed to transport technical personnel and essential equipment to offshore wind farms, and have the capacity to accommodate 24 passengers.The vessel has been designed for future hybrid integration…

Korean maritime service company MARCON has secured an approval in principle (AiP) from Korean Register (KR) for its crew transfer vessel (CTV), a passenger and cargo transport vessel dedicated to offshore wind farms.The CTV that received the AiP adopts an eco-friendly hybrid electric propulsion system using batteries.This addresses environmental regulatory issues while also offering fuel cost savings and supporting safer offshore wind farm operations.The key components of the CTV include a hybrid system and energy storage system (ESS) provided by Hanwha Aerospace…

Australia's Macquarie has engaged advisors for a potential sale of its subsidiary Corio Generation, one of the world's largest offshore-wind developers, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday.Corio oversees a 30-gigawatt pipeline of offshore wind projects spanning Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Americas. It includes 5 GW of projects across the UK such as West of Orkney in Scotland and Outer Dowsing off the east coast of England.Macquarie plans to gauge interest from a handful of strategic and financial investors later this year for a full or minority stake sale…

Danish offshore wind installation firm Cadeler has signed contracts with Equinor and Polenergia for the installation of turbines at 1440 MW Bałtyk 2 and Bałtyk 3 offshore wind farms in the Polish Baltic Sea.The total potential value of these contracts to Cadeler is expected to be in the range of $134-162 million (€120-144 million), with operations scheduled to begin in 2027.Bałtyk 2 and Bałtyk 3 offshore wind farms, both being joint venture projects owned 50% by Equinor and 50% by Polenergia…

Havfram, a provider of transport and installation services for the offshore wind industry, has been awarded a contract by Vattenfall and BASF for their Nordlicht offshore wind farm cluster.The Nordlicht wind farm zone, located 85 kilometers north of the island of Borkum in the German North Sea, consists of two separate sites: Nordlicht I, with an expected capacity of 980 MW, and Nordlicht II, with an expected capacity of 630 MW.For Nordlicht I, the contract covers the transportation and installation support of 68 Vestas V236-15.0 MW wind turbines…

A group of industry specialist companies has achieved a world first for the wind industry, with a major component exchange (MCE) being performed on an offshore floating wind turbine while it remained on site at the Scottish Kincardine offshore wind farm, located south east of Aberdeen.The new, more cost-effective, process was delivered through a collaboration of technologies and expertise from LiftOff, Vestas, Dragados, Kincardine Offshore Windfarm Limited (KOWL) and Cobra Wind…

Massachusetts and Rhode Island are moving ahead with three offshore wind projects totaling 2.9 gigawatts (GW), or enough electricity to power about 1.6 million homes, government officials announced on Friday.The project selections, following a joint solicitation in March for wind farms to be built off of New England's shores, move Massachusetts and Rhode Island closer to state renewable energy goals aimed at combating the effects of climate change."We are taking an important step towards energy independence…

Heavy lift and transport services firm Mammoet has launched the SK6000 land-based crane, said to be the world’s strongest, capable of handling large offshore wind components and delivering reduced integration times to offshore oil and gas projects.The 6,000t capacity of the SK6000 crane enables faster construction methodologies across the energy sector, according to Mammoet.The SK6000 is expected to have a major role in offshore wind, where fast growth of components in recent years has led to supply chain issues.

GE Vernova on Friday said recent turbine blade failures at two offshore wind farms in the United States and the United Kingdom are unrelated.The statement comes as the company has been grappling with fallout from three separate blade accidents in four months.The most recent occurred on Aug. 22 at the Dogger Bank wind farm off the coast of Yorkshire in the North Sea, a little over a month after a blade fell apart at the Vineyard Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts and sent…

Engineers at MIT have developed a comprehensive, physics-based model that accurately represents the airflow around rotors even under extreme conditions, such as when the blades are operating at high forces and speeds, or are angled in certain directions.The model could improve the way rotors are designed and how wind farms are laid out and operated. It was described in the journal Nature Communications in an open-access paper by MIT postdoc Jaime Liew, doctoral student Kirby Heck…

Kongsberg Maritime has launched a new Rim-drive Azimuth Thruster, the RD-AZ-2300.The RD-AZ-2300, with a propeller diameter of 2,300mm, sits between the existing RD-AZ-1900 and RD-AZ-2600 models and is suited for vessels operating in demanding environments such as offshore wind farms, where precise maneuverability and low noise levels are crucial.In adherence to DNV’s Silent R classification, the RD-AZ-2300 also provides significant advantages to underwater research vessels by reducing underwater radiated noise (URN) below sea levels, says Kongsberg Maritime.

A ceremonial groundbreaking ceremony was held to signal the start of construction at the Salem Offshore Wind Terminal in Massachusetts.The Crowley Wind Services-led project involves transforming a former oil- and coal-fired power plant into Massachusetts’ second wind port, to support the construction of offshore wind farms in New England and future floating turbines in the Gulf of Maine.Crowley also announced it has awarded Massachusetts-based joint venture DW White JF White to be the project’s general contractor.

British startup DRIFT Energy has closed a seed funding round for making green energy at sea using hi-tech sailing vessels.Led by Octopus Ventures, one of the largest and most active venture capital investors in the UK and Europe, and with support from Blue Action Accelerator, the company has secured £4.65 million ($6 million), enabling it to realise its ambition to start vessel production next year.DRIFT Energy aims to deploy a fleet of high-performance sailing vessels that harness…

Offshore wind developer Corio Generation, a Macquarie Group company, and Brazilian shipyard and marine construction company Estaleiros do Brasil (EBR) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore how EBR’s facilities could support future offshore wind projects off Brazil’s south coast.Corio and EBR will look at how EBR’s existing infrastructure, located close to Rio Grande port in Brazil’s southern province of Rio Grande do Sul, could support the deployment of two offshore wind farms planned for the south of the country.These include Cassino Offshore Wind (1…

Early 2024 saw a group of financial deals that have implications, in a broad sense, for how offshore wind projects may be financed. While offshore wind projects might be thought of as being in the ‘utility finance’ basket, they are ultimately high-risk deals that might better suit the portfolios of ‘infrastructure investment’ which, in recent years, has taken a shift towards tolerating more uncertainty when it comes to cash flows.A 2022 article from consultants McKinsey, titled “Infrastructure investing will never be the same”…

Green Marine (UK)’s initiative looking to retrofit crew transfer vessels (CTV) with hydrogen, fuel cells and battery, with the aim to cut emissions while servicing offshore wind farms, has been granted Approval in Principle (AiP) by global classification society RINA.The first phase of Project Verdant, involving a preliminary design and feasibility study, has now been completed and deemed viable, opening the door to subsequent project phases seeking to execute design, engineering and sea trials.Led by Green Marine (UK)…

Singapore's Cyan Renewables, which operates vessels for offshore wind farms, said on Thursday it will buy its Australian peer MMA Offshore for A$1.1 billion ($725.67 million), marking the largest take-private deal in this space in the Asia Pacific region.MMA shareholders will receive A$2.70 per share in cash, a 36% premium over its 90-day average price, according to a joint statement from Cyan and MMA.Cyan, which is backed by infrastructure investor Seraya Partners, had initially offered A$2.60 per MMA share in March before sweetening the offer last month.MMA's shares have climbed almost 44% y

Turkish shipbuilder Tersan Shipyard has launched a pair of construction service operations vessels (CSOV) for Dutch company Acta Marine.Acta Pegasus and the Acta Hercules are Ulstein SX216 design CSOVs featuring an optimized hull form and capability to burn methanol as main fuel, unlocking a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The hybrid power solution in these vessels, with green methanol intended as the main energy source, has dual-fuel engines supported by a battery package.Each vessel has a length of 89.9 meters, a beam of 19.2 meters and accommodations for up to 135 personnel.

RWE has been granted a feasibility licence from the Australian Government for the development of an offshore wind farm close to the Kent Group islands in the Bass Strait, off the Gippsland coast in the state of Victoria. This area is Australia’s first designated offshore wind zone.This licence approval grants RWE an exclusive seven-year seabed right to develop the Kent Offshore Wind Farm project. The approval also allows RWE to apply for a commercial licence to build and operate…

An incident at the Vineyard Wind offshore wind energy project this week that scattered shards of fiberglass across Massachusetts beaches was the latest in a series of failures involving wind turbines built by GE Vernova.At least one other GE Vernova offshore wind turbine came apart this year, at the massive Dogger Bank A project off the UK coast, and several onshore wind turbines in Germany and Sweden have also broken in recent years, according to a Reuters examination of recent…

Norway-based offshore vessel owner Rem Offshore has signed a contract with shipbuilder Vard for the design and construction of a new commissioning service operation vessel (CSOV) for offshore wind services.This will be the third CSOV Vard will deliver to Rem Offshore. The first two, REM Power and REM Wind, were delivered in 2023 and 2024 respectively.The CSOV is tailored to provide services during the construction, operation, and maintenance of offshore wind farms worldwide.It will feature VARD 4 19 design, developed by Vard Design in Ålesund.

Dutch shipbuilder Damen has signed a deal with Ta San Shang Marine (TSSM) for the construction of the second commissioning service operation vessel (CSOV) for Taiwanese offshore wind operations.TSSM, the joint venture between Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) and Ta Tong Marine, placed an order for the second Damen 9010 CSOV, set for delivery at the end of 2026.When the new vessel is delivered, TSSM will deploy it at Taiwanese offshore wind farms, increasing its fleet to three service…

American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has issued an approval in principle (AIP) to Nantong Pengrui Offshore Technology and COSCO Shipping Shipyard (Nantong) for its novel design of an offshore access gangway.The motion compensated, active and passive, gangway design offers a solution for the growing demand for efficient access for service operation vessels (SOVs) supporting wind turbines and offshore platforms.ABS completed design reviews based on class and statutory requirements.“Transferring personnel to and from offshore facilities is one of the most hazardous operations in the business.